Senior AI Combat Designer

Team Name:

Job Title:

Senior AI Combat Designer

Requisition ID:

R023982

Job Description:

We Need You

The minions of Hell are growing stronger...

Join us as we write the next chapter in the Diablo universe! Diablo IV is the next-gen action RPG experience with endless evil to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish dungeons, and legendary loot. Come work with us, and together we’ll create something amazing. Our team of passionate developers is growing.

We are seeking a Senior AI Combat Designer to join our team and lead multi-disciplinary strike teams to bring Diablo IV’s monsters to life. You will have a keen understanding of visual aesthetics and a deep understanding of what makes enemy combat engaging, particularly within the ARPG space. This position offers a unique opportunity to work with a diverse range of teams and make a significant impact on the game's development.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Albany, NY, or Irvine, CA.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Lead Designer to constantly hone a cohesive vision for how players interact with hostile NPCs in Diablo IV.
• Design, collaborate, and script monster behavior/AI to create meaningfully engaging monster and boss content for our players.
• Provide day-to-day support and feedback to the AI Combatant Designers to ensure the quality bar.
• Collaborate with teams such as art, engineering, and audio to create the highest-quality monsters possible.
• Collaborate with the tools team to help prioritize tool requests from the encounter team.
• Adhere to priorities and pillars established by leads.
• Mentor and guide our junior designers, raising the quality of their work and creating a welcoming and open collaborative team dynamic.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills & strong collaboration skills with cross-discipline experts.

Minimum Requirements

• Minimum 5 years of experience on design teams, specifically in Combat Design, AI Design, or Encounter Design on a multiplayer action game.
• A solid understanding of the role creature mechanics play in a combat model.
• Experience designing boss or enemy encounters in any game.
• Have taken work through the entire development process to ship.
• Creativity and the ability to work in a demanding technical environment.
• Ability to write high-level scripting languages such as Lua or Python.

Bonus

• Solid understanding of animation and how it relates to the combat experience.
• Deep knowledge of at least one well-known game engine, Unreal or Unity.
• Passion for ARPG gameplay and nurturing a healthy game community.

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/ .

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $80,800.00 - $149,400.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.