Senior Game Designer, Systems, FFGS

Riot Games was established in 2006 by entrepreneurial gamers who believe that player-focused game development can result in great games. In 2009, Riot released its debut title League of Legends to critical and player acclaim. As the most played video game in the world, over 100 million play every month. Players form the foundation of our community and it’s for them that we continue to evolve and improve the League of Legends experience.

We’re looking for humble but ambitious, razor-sharp professionals who can teach us a thing or two. We promise to return the favor. Like us, you take play seriously; you’re passionate about games. We embrace those who see things differently, aren’t afraid to experiment, and who have a healthy disregard for constraints.

That's where you come in.

Senior Game Designer, Systems, FFGS work on teams across the organization to find fun, dream up great champions, traits, cosmetics, and progression systems, and then work with engineers, Technical Game Designers, artists, producers, QA pros, and other dev partner and creatives to get them to players. They need to be able to break down tough gameplay problems, empathize with players, and come up with solutions both dreamy and practical.

This role reports to the Director of Product and Partnerships at Riot, and focuses on systems design for features like social, progression, and competitive systems. But: all FFGS game designers work within TFT design frameworks and standards, and contribute to broader TFT design as well.

As a Rioter in China, you'll join a team of internationally and culturally diverse professionals that share our prioritization of player experience, rejection of convention and maniacal passion for gaming. 

To reinforce Riot’s collaborative culture in our China offices, we’ve decided to do away with the constraints of traditional hierarchical title structures that are more common in the region. Titles don’t really matter at any of Riot’s offices, but we chose to take this extra step in our China offices to foster a space where teamwork thrives. We believe that removing this constraint will promote individual autonomy, ownership, collaboration, and a focus on results. We promise you won’t need a title at Riot to make an impact.

Responsibilities:

• Gain an understanding of TFT's and Riot's strategic goals, and work with a diverse team of developers to execute on those goals
• Advocate effectively for players in planning and creative meetings
• Critique others' work with sensitive candor, and be so critiqued in turn
• Solve a wide variety of game design problems in the initiative’s areas of accountability - particularly in progression systems, but also in gameplay-focused areas like making our cosmetics rewards ever more amazing
• Do a lot of playtesting with the design team, and provide useful feedback

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience as a professional game designer
• Great game design analysis and problem-solving skills
• Experience with defining tasks and communicating details about target player experiences
• A strong understanding of technical and creative tradeoffs, and how changes to goals will affect which solutions we should adopt
• Wide understanding of different player preferences and audience segments
• Proficient in both English and Mandarin

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with the auto-battler genre and/or mobile game development
• Deep engagement with TFT's gameplay and systems (note this is not required!)
  
  

Don’t forget to include a resume and cover letter. We receive a lot of applications, but we’ll notice a fun, well-written intro that shows us you take play seriously.

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about the experiences of players, this could be the role for you!

Our Perks:

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in gaming.