Welcome to Maxis, home to tinkerers, craftspeople, & storytellers. Our drive is to inspire everyone to make a better world through creative play. As the developer of The Sims, we create games and experiences for millions of people around the world and are always looking for new ways to inspire our players. Maxis is a place where you can do what you love and help others grow while doing it; a place where your unique voice can be heard and seen. We put creativity and inclusivity at the core of our work and don't settle for seeing the world only as it is, but strive to build a world as it could be.
This is a hybrid remote/in-office role and you will be reporting to a Development Director.
As a Gameplay Software Engineer on The Sims, your job will be to develop user-facing content for The Sims. You will:
Use Python, C++, and ActionScript 3 to implement data-driven gameplay and UI systems.
Work with our live services team to develop new systems, mechanics, and content (e.g., events, event quests, and rewards).
Create new Sim behaviours: interaction with the world, other Sims, and objects.
Work with designers, producers, artists, and other engineers to improve the data-driven framework that brings designs to life.
Write and present technical design documents detailing software requirements and implementation plans.
Build content that supports a large demographic of simulation player patterns.
Write code with performance and memory usage in mind.
Debug code to document and fix bugs.
Solve technical problems in an evolving environment to support an active live service.
Communicate updates and resolutions to partners and teammates with the ability to cater the messaging based on audience.
Qualifications:
Bachelor/Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering or related field or equivalent experience.
5+ years of experience in a hands-on development role for games or applications.
Working knowledge of modern C++ and experience with scripting (e.g., Python).
Experience implementing complex game subsystems.
Experience with Windows platform and development tools (e.g. Visual Studio or other programming IDEs).
Experience optimising existing game code to be more performant.
Proficiency in use of UI technologies such as Scaleform, ActionScript 3, HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.
Proficient experience with a relational database such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, or Oracle
Proficient experience in past game projects using a variety of scripting solutions to implement, tune, and bug-fix features using scripts, XML/JSON, and blueprints with a game engine (Unity/Unreal) or proprietary editor.
Xbox One/PS4/Mac development experience.
Experience using static and performance analysis tools, automated testing, unit testing, and configuration management processes.
Proficiency in CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitLab, etc.).
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
The ranges listed below are what EA in good faith expects to pay applicants for this role in these locations at the time of this posting. If you reside in a different location, a recruiter will advise on the applicable range and benefits. Pay offered will be determined based on a number of relevant business and candidate factors (e.g. education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, or business needs).
PAY RANGES
In British Columbia, we offer a package of benefits including vacation (3 weeks per year to start), 10 days per year of sick time, paid top-up to EI/QPIP benefits up to 100% of base salary when you welcome a new child (12 weeks for maternity, and 4 weeks for parental/adoption leave), extended health/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, disability insurance, retirement plan to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity.
