Game Director

Longdue Games; Remote; ZAR 800 000 - 1 200 000; Full time

Job summary

A narrative-focused game studio is searching for a Game Director to ensure creative cohesion throughout production. You will safeguard the game's vision, align narrative and gameplay, and guide teamwork across various disciplines. The ideal candidate has extensive game development experience, proven creative leadership, and a strong understanding of narrative-driven RPG design. This remote-first studio values creativity and offers flexible working conditions as they build an unforgettable RPG experience.

Benefits

Creative freedom

Flexible working

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in game development with at least one shipped title.
• Proven experience in a creative leadership role on a game in production.
• Strong understanding of narrative-driven RPG design.

Responsibilities

• Own and safeguard the creative vision throughout production.
• Guide the refinement and balancing of core systems and mechanics.
• Align narrative, design, art, audio, and engineering around shared goals.

Skills

Game development

Creative leadership

Narrative-driven RPG design

Communication skills

Cross-discipline leadership

Job description

About the game

Hopetown is a new narrative-first RPG inspired by Disco Elysium, being built by some of the team that worked on Disco Elysium, including Martin Luiga (founder of the ZA/UM Cultural Movement, writer of several characters on Disco Elysium, writer of the first short story in the Disco Elysium world), Lenval Brown (narrator of Disco Elysium) and Piotr Sobolewski (former CEO of Knights of U, which completed all the tech for Disco Elysium).

We are currently moving into early production, building out the foundational systems, characters, and mechanics that will define the experience. With your help, we can transform Hopetown from a great cRPG into an unforgettable one — a living, breathing universe of stories, surprises, and challenges.

About us

Longdue is a studio founded to create rich, emotional, story-first games that challenge players’ expectations. We’re a remote team of writers, artists, designers, and engineers, bringing together talent from across the industry to push the boundaries of narrative-driven RPGs.

We are still early in production, meaning new team members will have a real, tangible impact on the world we are building. We believe that extraordinary games can come from small, focused teams that value creativity, openness, and care over convention.

About the role

As Game Director, you are responsible for creative cohesion through production.

Your role is to protect and sharpen the game’s vision as content scales, systems mature, and constraints become real. You ensure that narrative, gameplay, art, audio, and tone remain aligned, and that Hopetown feels intentional rather than compromised.

You will work closely with design, narrative, art, engineering, and production, helping the team make confident decisions and maintain quality through to release.

This is a leadership role rooted in judgement, taste, and follow-through — not top-down control.

Add to What You’ll Be Doing:

Creative ownership & cohesion

• Own and safeguard the creative vision throughout production
• Ensure consistency of tone, themes, and player experience across all content
• Identify and correct creative drift as scope and complexity increase

Gameplay & systems direction

• Guide the refinement and balancing of core systems and mechanics
• Evaluate features and content against narrative intent and player experience
• Make final calls on creative trade-offs when time, scope, or budget collide

Narrative & world alignment

• Work closely with the narrative team to ensure story, characters, and systems reinforce each other
• Maintain clarity around themes, emotional beats, and player agency
• Support narrative integration across quests, systems, UI, and moment-to-moment play

Cross-discipline leadership

• Align narrative, design, art, audio, and engineering around shared goals
• Facilitate constructive, creative debate and clear decision-making
• Provide feedback that is specific, actionable, and grounded in the game’s intent

Production collaboration

• Partner with production to support milestone delivery without sacrificing quality
• Help prioritise what truly matters to the final player experience
• Contribute to external communication where needed (updates, trailers, showcases)

MUST-HAVE REQUIREMENTS

• Extensive experience in game development, with at least one shipped title
• Proven experience in a creative leadership role on a game in production
• Strong understanding of narrative-driven RPG design
• Demonstrated ability to maintain creative clarity across long production cycles
• Experience working closely with writers, designers, artists, and engineers
• Confidence making and standing behind difficult creative decisions
• Excellent communication skills in a remote team environment
  

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience shipping a narrative-heavy RPG
• Background in narrative design or writing
• Experience taking a project from mid-production through to release
• Familiarity with narrative tools and pipelines (e.g. Articy)
• Strong editorial instincts, knowing when to cut, refine, or push further
• Comfort working in a studio that prioritises thoughtfulness over spectacle

WHY JOIN US

Creative Freedom: We foster an environment where your unique voice and vision can shape a groundbreaking RPG.

Thought-Provoking Project: Help create a game that challenges conventions, offers a deep philosophical experience, and invites players to explore not only a mysterious world but also the depths of the human psyche.

Flexible Working: We are a remote-first studio, offering you the freedom to work from wherever inspiration strikes.