Founded in 2005, 2K Games is a global video game company, publishing titles developed by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. 2K publishes titles in today’s most popular gaming genres, including sports, shooters, action, role-playing, strategy, casual, and family entertainment. Our studios responsible for developing 2K’s portfolio of world-class games across multiple platforms include Visual Concepts, Firaxis, Hangar 13, CatDaddy, Cloud Chamber, and HB Studios. Our portfolio of titles is expanding due to our global strategic plan, building and acquiring exciting studios whose content continues to inspire all of us!
Located in Vancouver, BC, 2K Sports Lab is a small collective being formed within 2K Games that is driving the research and development of future sports interactive entertainment programs. Within this group, speculative work will be done on future sports games with an eye towards taking the magic of 2K’s publishing and development expertise and applying them to future opportunities.
Our team of engineers, marketers, artists, writers, data scientists, producers, thinkers and doers, are the professional publishing stewards of our growing library of critically-acclaimed franchises such as NBA 2K, 2K PGA, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Lego Drive, BioShock, Borderlands, The Quarry, Mafia, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, WWE 2K, and XCOM.
At 2K, we pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work! We encourage ALL applicants to explore our global positions, even if they don’t meet every requirement for the role. If you're interested in the job and think you have what it takes to work at 2K, we encourage you to apply!
What We Need
Our studio is looking for a Senior Gameplay Designer who has a high quality bar, a passion for replicating authentic sports behaviors and experience in systems design.
In this role, you will work with a production partner to creatively lead AI Engineers, Animation Engineers, and Animators to set the vision for and implement authentic sports behaviors to build highly polished world- class gameplay for what will be the next massive sports franchise in our industry!
The Gameplay Designer will work with the Gameplay Design Director to set a vision for a significant gameplay area and partner with production and tech peers to lead a team to deliver against that vision.
What You’ll Do
Be the ‘Product Owner’ for your gameplay area
Acquire an intimate knowledge of our target player and our product goals
Acquire an intimate knowledge of the competitive landscape
Work with the ‘Gameplay Design Director’ to define the vision for your gameplay area
Partner with producer and tech peers to lead your team
Drive the generation and prioritization of your team’s backlog
Collaborate with the QA team to drive testing of the game experience and drive external testing as needed
Evaluate progress and game quality and partner with Production to formulate and revise plans to drive execution
‘Craft the Design’ of your gameplay area
Collaborate with your team to create designs that execute on the agreed upon feature visions
Live our creative process and create necessary documentation
Manage the timely generation of design documentation
‘Steer the Implementation’ of your gameplay vision
Collaborate with Engineers and Animators to steer the execution of your vision
Collaborate with your Project Management and Technical partners to lead your feature team (5-10 developers)
Champion the player experience, bringing the players perspective to all decision making
Be constantly analyzing the software, adding to, grooming and prioritizing the backlog
Inspire and align your team on your vision for your gameplay area
Passionately and clearly present visions to the team
Share design material in asynchronous ways to aid visibility
Work closely with Engineers, Animators, and Artists to implement your vision
Help to create a positive, inclusive and collaborative environment for your team
Be an ‘individual contributor’ when time allows
Understand the technical details of how the game works
Exemplify WGLL by being keen and able to be in engine in order to deliver the strongest possible experience
What Will Make You A Great Fit
Passion for Sports and Sports Video Games
Experience designing high quality ‘second-to-second’ game experiences
Experience with, and passion for, systemic game design
Experience leading a feature team team (7+ developers)
Experience working with Animation SEs and Animators and is familiar with animation technology (Blend techniques, Masking, Procedural Animation etc.).
Appetite for taking on ‘Product Owner’ responsibilities (backlog management and prioritization)
Positive, ‘can do’, proactive and ‘hands-on’ demeanor
Beneficial Qualifications
Experience working on sports games
Experience with animation based features
Experience with AI based features
The pay range for this position in British Columbia, Canada at the start of employment is expected to be between $75,700 CAD and $135,500 CAD per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations. Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an 'at-will position' and the company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.
As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to ensuring that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform their crucial job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us if you need reasonable accommodation.
Please note that 2K Games and its studios never uses instant messaging apps or personal email accounts to contact prospective employees or conduct interviews, and when emailing we, only use 2K.com accounts.
