Lead game systems design for an open world action-adventure game, requiring 5+ years of action game system design experience and deep understanding of virtual world economies.

Storytelling. Philanthropy. Ultraviolence.Absurd Ventures is a media company creating new IP across all platforms and for all formats. Absurd Ventures is building narrative worlds, creating characters, and writing stories for a variety of genres, without regard to medium, to be produced for live-action and animation; video games and other interactive content; books, graphic novels, and scripted podcasts.

Absurd Ventures

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 About the job
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 Summary Become the primary vision holder and hands-on contributor for all systems in an open world action-adventure game. Lead a team of multi-disciplinary specialists to deliver intuitive, deep, and novel systems that support long-term player investment and emergent fun. Responsibilities <ul><li>Drive the design and implementation of all game-wide systems. </li><li>Establish a vision for progression, rewards, customization, economy, UX, and systems-driven content that serves the player fantasies and creative direction, then evangelize that vision to the broader team. </li><li>Coordinate with gameplay, activity, mission, and open world design leads to integrate deep and diverse features into a coherent and accessible experience. </li><li>Rally designers, engineers, artists, and external co-dev partners to deliver playable progress at regular intervals as part of a rapid iterative process. </li><li>Incorporate feedback from peers, playtests, and senior leadership to refine, rebalance, and pivot as the game demands. </li><li>Partner with community, user research, and marketing teams to develop and refine systems that drive long-term player excitement and engagement. </li><li>Coordinate with quality assurance to develop longform playtests in continuous reevaluation of metagame systems.</li><li>Go beyond documentation and management to lead from the trenches, with hands-on contributions to playable game systems at every level. </li></ul>
Qualifications <ul><li>5 or more years of experience designing systems for action games. </li><li>Awareness of casual gamers' needs and ability to reduce barriers to entry with accessible systems and intuitive UX. </li><li>Deep understanding of virtual world economies and how to design sustainably for long-term player chase and investment. </li><li>Narrative sensibilities and vision to design systems that immerse players in an authored fictional world, while empowering them to forge their own emergent experiences. </li><li>Recent experience with direct implementation in the form of visual scripting, balance tuning, or other individual contributions. </li><li>Excellent communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills. </li><li>Innovative thinker with creative problem-solving skills who thrives in a collaborative team environment. </li><li>Multiplayer progression, economy, or social systems design experience is a plus. </li><li>Experience designing non-combatant social NPC behavior is a plus. </li><li>Experience leading multidisciplinary teams is a plus. </li><li>Experience designing longform metagame testing is a plus. </li><li>Experience working with co-development partners is a plus. </li><li>Experience in UE4 or UE5 is a plus. </li></ul>
Description <ul><li>Full time job with benefits </li><li> Role is on-site in Santa Monica, CA </li><li>Office is located near downtown Santa Monica – near metro and freeways </li></ul>
The base pay range for this position is $125,000 to $165,000 per year. Actual compensation is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer a competitive package of benefits including paid time off, sick time, company holidays, parental leave, medical/dental/vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and 401(k) to regular full-time employees. Certain roles may also be eligible for bonus and equity. About Absurd Ventures Absurd Ventures is a media company creating new IP across all platforms and for all formats. Absurd Ventures is building narrative worlds, creating characters, and writing stories for a variety of genres, without regard to medium, to be produced for live-action and animation; video games and other interactive content; books, graphic novels, and scripted podcasts.
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