Combat Design Lead: Amazon

Amazon is all in on games. We believe the evolution that began with arcade communities a quarter at a time, growing to the live streams and eSports of today, will continue to a future where everyone is a gamer and every gamer can create, compete, collaborate and connect with others at massive scales. If you share our belief that games will produce some of the future’s most influential voices in media and art, come join us. At Amazon’s Games Studios, you’ll have the power of Amazon Web Services’ cloud, Twitch, Amazon eCommerce, and our digital and physical media publishing infrastructure available as raw material to forge a future filled with amazing experiences for players, broadcasters and creators. As a Lead Character Designer you will invent the look and feel of our games’ characters, breathing life into the creative vision via compelling player avatars, smooth and intuitive navigation and combat controls, and engaging, vicious and vivacious enemies and allies:· Work closely with the Creative Director and leads to develop a fast and fun, visceral combat system.· Work directly with animators to perfect low-level mechanics tuning and timing.· Collaborate closely with art, animation, programming, FX, and sound team members to achieve a top-of-class combat experience.· Work with all departments on the scheduling and integration of the Game Design, as well as game feature development goals and execution.· Collaborate with Creative Director and fellow designers on meta-game systems and AI.· Generate documentation to clearly communicate ideas and goals to team.· Develop data-gathering methods for game balancing and tuning through focus testing then implement changes based on the data.

Qualifications

· 5+ years of experience as a combat/gameplay designer (first or third).· Must have shipped at least 1 AAA title as combat/enemy designer.· Direct experience making AI enemies, AI gameplay tuning, character balance and ramping.· Strong methodology and problem solving ability, with focus on creative and fun gameplay.· Deep understanding the competitive, multiplayer game landscape.· Proven experience in a professional game production pipeline.· Very comfortable working in game editors and understanding engine/game constraints and opportunities.· A portfolio with samples of your work.· Experience with one or more scripting languages (Lua, Python, etc.).· Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to convey abstract concept.

Preferred Qualifications

· The ideal candidate will have had a key role implementing character navigation and combat on multiple successful 3D action or sports games.· Have shipped multiple titles.· Must have the ability to take constructive criticism and maintain a professional attitude.· Knowledge of Maya, 3D Max, Photoshop, Zbrush, and other 2D/3D applications.· Experience with AAA Game Engines such as: Source, Unreal, or CryEngine.· Familiarity with programming and scripting languages such as: C++, C#, Lua, or Javascript.