Staff Gameplay Engineer - Systems and Performance

Team LFG; United States; Remote; USD 172,000 - 259,000; Full time

Job summary

Sony Interactive Entertainment is hiring a Staff Gameplay Engineer – Systems & Performance to lead foundational gameplay systems and optimize performance in Unreal Engine 5. You will shape architecture, frameworks, and shared systems used by gameplay engineers and content creators.

You’ll drive technical direction for performance, collaborate across disciplines, and help scale the game’s simulation and networking model while delivering high-quality, production-ready tooling and workflows.

Qualifications

• Strong C++ and production-quality systems in a large codebase.
• Experience architecting large-scale gameplay systems beyond individual features.
• Deep profiling and optimizing real-time games (CPU, memory, networking).
• Experience developing with Unreal Engine.
• Excellent communication and collaboration across disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and maintain production-quality foundational gameplay systems, frameworks, workflows, and tools in C++ on Unreal Engine 5
• Provide technical direction for shared gameplay systems, working closely with engineers and content creators to evolve their architecture, identify risks early, and ensure they scale with our simulation and networking model
• Own game performance and optimization: profile the game, identify systemic bottlenecks and performance risks, establish priorities, and implement optimizations directly in the codebase
• Establish performance practices, metrics, budgets, profiling workflows, and tools that enable engineers and content creators to understand the runtime cost of their work and optimize their own systems

Skills

Strong C++ skills

Large-scale gameplay systems

Real-time profiling & optimization

Unreal Engine development

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Tools

Unreal Engine

Job description

Are you on a mission to create games that bond players together into deeply invested communities? Would you like to work on something comedic with lighthearted and whimsical characters? And are you excited to build the systems and tools to help others create a rich, innovative game?

As a Staff Gameplay Engineer – Systems & Performance on teamLFG, you will be a hands on technical expert in foundational gameplay systems and game performance. You will help define and evolve the architecture, frameworks, and shared systems that gameplay engineers and content creators build upon, while driving the technical direction for performance and optimization across the game. Most importantly, you will work with a fun, dedicated, and cross-discipline team devoted to turning a creative dream into a new franchise at PlayStation.

We look for candidates who value joining a mission-focused team with a diverse set of backgrounds, experiences, interests, and viewpoints.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, build and maintain production-quality foundational gameplay systems, frameworks, workflows, and tools in C++ on Unreal Engine 5
• Provide technical direction for shared gameplay systems, working closely with engineers and content creators to evolve their architecture, identify risks early, and ensure they scale with our simulation and networking model
• Own game performance and optimization: proactively profile the game, identify systemic bottlenecks and performance risks, establish priorities, and implement optimizations directly in the codebase
• Establish performance practices, metrics, budgets, profiling workflows, and tools that enable engineers and content creators to understand the runtime cost of their work and optimize their own systems

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Strong C++ skills and the ability to design, implement, debug, profile, and maintain production quality systems in a large codebase
• Demonstrated experience architecting and evolving large-scale gameplay systems, frameworks, or shared gameplay infrastructure, beyond the implementation of individual gameplay features
• Deep experience profiling and optimizing real-time games, including identifying, investigating, and resolving CPU, memory, networking, and other systemic performance bottlenecks
• Experience developing with Unreal Engine
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to explain complex technical topics and influence technical decisions across disciplines

NICE-TO-HAVE SKILLS

• Experience developing and shipping multiplayer games, particularly games with complex gameplay simulation and networking requirements
• Experience developing and optimizing games across PC and console platforms

At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location. Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this role is eligible for SIE’s top-tier benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, matching 401(k), paid time off, wellness program and coveted employee discounts for Sony products. This role also may be eligible for a bonus package. Click here to learn more.

This is a flexible role that can be remote, with varying pay ranges based on geographic location. For example, if you are based out of Seattle, the estimated base pay range for this role is listed below.

$172,000 — $259,000 USD

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

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