At ArenaNet, we’ve always believed that games are art. They have the power to communicate ideas and tell stories. They can change the way we think, reflect our cultures, and move us. As the developer of the award-winning Guild Wars game series, we’re proud to share our passion for the online worlds we’ve created with over 11 million players worldwide.

ArenaNet develops and publishes games for every kind of person, which means our games need to be built by every kind of person. We believe the best experiences come from working together, celebrating differences, and helping each of our team members shine.

We’re seeking a Principal Sandbox Designer for our new project. In this role, you’ll take ownership of the characters, creatures, props, and toys that players interact with. You will design and build these features, while working closely with many other development disciplines. You’ll be among our most advanced contributors who lead teams through iteration.

What is the Unannounced Project trying to achieve with its sandbox elements?

Simply stated, we intend our gameplay interactions to be entertaining and memorable. We aim to create player-centric stories told through unique moments of gameplay. We intend to build these moments through a combination of emergent system design and powerful, handcrafted moments. We are looking for an experienced systems designer to work on the strategy and execution of this high-level direction.

What’s a Principal Designer?

Principal Designers are our most experienced and advanced leaders in design. They drive innovation and quality from the front. Rather than manage teams, principals lead interdisciplinary groups of artists, designers, and engineers through creative development. As a Principal Designer, you’ll be given the success criteria, not the steps. We will be trusting you to define the experience, marshal the resources, inspire the team, and drive us to quality releases.

What should I expect the role to be like?

In your day-to-day, you’ll be eagerly:

  • Working closely with other design leaders to craft a cohesive and inspiring vision for the game’s PVE combat experience.
  • Improving the team’s overall awareness, understanding, and respect for the fundamental systems or mechanics that lead to excellent non-player interactions in combat.
  • Designing, prototyping, and analyzing the entire lineup of non-player characters such as creatures, bosses, wildlife, armies, and more.
  • Collaborating and building a shared purpose around your with other disciplines such as art, engineering, and QA to carry the vision for each character forward.
  • Guiding, building, and improving the pipelines that connect our ideas and inspirations to the actual delivery of features shipped to our customers.
  • Monitor the performance and engagement of non-player characters in test and live environments to implement improvements back into existing and future designs.

Role Qualifications

We are especially interested in anyone who identifies with one or more of these areas:

  • You have extensive experience building modular gameplay features such as creatures, bosses, combat abilities, items, or other activities.
  • You have an “eye” for high quality gameplay interactions. You can back it up with the analytical and communication skills necessary to deconstruct the how and why of those moments.
  • You deeply understand and enjoy prolonged engagement games such as live service, MMORPGs, or early access.
  • You have experience designing for multiple platforms, especially PC and consoles.
  • You are very comfortable getting your hands dirty while leading multi-disciplinary working groups.
  • You have an open mind towards innovation and thoughtful design techniques; you can tolerate reasonable levels of risk and uncertainty that come with iterative design process.
  • You’ve built or shipped games using Unreal Engine or similar tools. 

Please note that priority will be given to local candidates or those open to relocating and working onsite in a hybrid capacity at our Bellevue, WA studio.

Please note that the pay range listed in this job posting reflects the full salary range for this position. While we provide this range to offer transparency, our target hiring range typically falls between the minimum and the midpoint, allowing for growth potential within the role.

Total compensation is salary plus an annual bonus potential. When determining an offer amount, many things are taken into consideration such as qualifications, experience, internal equity and work location. We strive to provide competitive and equitable compensation packages to all our employees.

This role is also eligible for medical, dental, vision and life insurance, short and long term disability, 401(k), flexible and dependent care spending accounts, PTO, paid holidays and parental leave.

Pay Range
$155,920—$241,680 USD

Don’t meet every single requirement on this job post? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At ArenaNet, we believe diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and backgrounds make us a better team – we celebrate it. So, if you’re excited about this role, but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification listed, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

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