Contribute to the artistic vision and development of a AAA product.
Sony PlayStation is looking for a Sr. Staff Game Designer who will contribute to the artistic vision and development of a AAA product with a specialized focus on creating game designs and gameplay utilizing a combination of creative and technical design skills.
Responsibilities:
- Help establish, maintain, and guide the creative design of multiple game levels or features and relaying that vision to the development team using a combination of written documents, visual designs, and verbal communication
- Lead the production of missions, levels or other game features, collaborating with the Game Director, Creative Director, and members from all disciplines during the product development cycle
- Maintain the game design vision during all phases of the product development cycle from concept through implementation
- Produce gameplay content in the production phase of one or more products to final completion
- Contribute to the design elements of one or more game features, systems or specific game play areas
- Review and evaluate competitive products, identifying areas to innovate in and best the competition.
- Identify and help create techniques, structures and tools to guide and encourage the evolution of game design within the studio, and to improve quality and or efficiency
Requirements/Education:
- Game Design process knowledge including (but not limited to) story and character design, level design, AI design, player control, user interface, pacing, etc.
- Understanding of the technical aspects of product development and its relationships to game design.
- Advanced knowledge of scripting languages and code (e.g., C#, Python, C, C++) is preferred but not required
- Must have knowledge of competitive products and various genres, as well as a personal understanding of what makes games fun and entertaining.
- Good error checking and debug skills to help identify problems and bugs and insure the assigned design implementation tasks are always working.
- Good reading, writing, and comprehension skills to have complete understanding of complex process documents, design documents, and written assignments.
- The ability to communicate effectively with individual team members, or within a group setting and the ability to write short reports and process documents when needed to explain implementation processes, design ideas, or other issues.
- Good time management skills with the ability to break down assignments and prioritize them into workable tasks on a daily, weekly, and project length basis.
- Able to manage long-term projects, creating and following a comprehensive schedule for the creation of complex assets such as game levels, game play systems, etc.
- Able to complete tasks and assignments quickly and correctly with limited iterative reworking.
- Good data management skills, with the ability to manage and track large amounts of data as they go through the design pipeline, with attention to naming conventions, directory structures, and other defined processes.
- Ability to troubleshoot relentlessly, chasing down issues on behalf of the team.
- Possess working knowledge of Maya (or similar 3D package), engine tools and processes.
- At least 5 years of experience in a game development environment.