Principal Combat Designer

Mundo Gamer Network; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

Escape Velocity is hiring a Principal Combat Designer to lead the creation and refinement of combat mechanics for our online multiplayer game. You will guide weapon and ability design, balance, and player feedback, driving the overall combat direction with cross-disciplinary collaboration.

The role emphasizes player-centric decision making, collaboration with design, art, and engineering teams, and a focus on delivering a deeply engaging, fun combat experience across diverse characters.

Qualifications

• Player-oriented design approach in combat systems.
• Experience with multiple shipped AAA titles and mechanics design involvement.
• Strong ability to solve creative and technical design problems.
• Excellent communication and collaboration across disciplines.
• Comfort with designing for online multiplayer experiences.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate closely with Design Director and Design Leads to drive combat design for online multiplayer.
• Design and craft expert-level player combat mechanics, weapons and abilities.
• Communicate with Leads and Directors of other disciplines to align mechanics before development.
• Advocate for the player, prioritizing player experience in all design decisions.

Skills

Player-oriented design

AAA title experience

Creative problem solving

Technical problem solving

Communication skills

Tools

Unreal Engine (UE5)

Job description

What we are looking for:

As a Principal Combat Designer you will be responsible for creating and improving the combat mechanics for our diverse characters to make our game more fun, challenging and engaging.

Requirements

What we will do together:

• Collaborate closely with Design Director, and other Design Leads to drive and execute the vision for combat design for a robust online multiplayer experience.
• Design and craft expert-level player combat mechanics, weapons and abilities.
• Communicate with Leads and Directors of other disciplines, particularly art and engineering, and ensure that everyone is on the same page before beginning mechanics/feature development.
• Advocate for the player, always putting the player experience first when considering and making all design decisions.
  

What you will bring:

• A can-do attitude that is player oriented…mechanics design is one of the most hotly debated areas of design, but you remember that simplicity is often a player’s best friend.
• At least two shipped AAA titles where you worked in mechanics design capacity
• Expert knowledge of off-the-shelf design tools, and expertise with Unreal Engine (UE5 preferred)
• Deep professional understanding of the many major mechanics and gameplay features found in contemporary game titles, and a keen knowledge for how those mechanics and features work.
• Strong creative and technical problem-solving skills
• Exceptional communication skills
  

Benefits

Interested… a bit about Escape Velocity:

Escape Velocity is a team of passionate, talented developers working at a studio that offers excellent benefits, on what we believe is a once-in-a-career project with a committed publisher. But that doesn’t necessarily make us unique. What does make us special? We value the time, energy, and talent of our players and our colleagues. We want every hour spent developing and playing our games to be an incredibly rewarding and worthwhile use of your time. To that end, we are 'Fully Remote' and support team members nearly anywhere in the world. We prioritize honesty, even when that means sharing bad news. We strive to give everyone autonomy so they can determine how best to work and play, and we care more about what you bring to the game and studio than how many hours you’re clocking. We’re dedicated to building a culture of play, which not only makes us better game makers, but also strengthens the bonds between us all. We believe in constant improvement across all areas - from the game itself to our production design - and are constantly re-evaluating how we spend our time to ensure that we’re not wasting yours and we’re all always working on the most important things.

A few benefits you can expect from us:

• A generous PTO allowance
• Summer and Winter holidays studio closure (separate to PTO allowance)
• Private Medical & Dental Healthcare
• Private Mental Health scheme
• A generous annual Health & Wellbeing allowance
• Discretionary Studio Bonus
• Top range tech for your home set up
• Other benefits based on your region
  

Escape Velocity is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to hiring, promoting, and compensating employees based on their qualifications and demonstrated ability to perform job responsibilities.

Applications will be considered regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief, race, or any other protected category.