Senior Combat Designer I, Unannounced Project | Irvine, CA

Team Name:

Your Mission

At Blizzard we craft genre-defining games and legendary worlds for all to share. Through unparalleled creativity and storytelling we create immersive universes and iconic characters that are beloved across platforms borders backgrounds and generationsonly made possible by building a work environment that nurtures the artistry of game development and unleashes the aspirations of our people.

We are looking for a Senior Combat Designer I to help drive combat design for a new unannounced game. As a senior individual contributor you will set the vision and direction for combat systems and encounters partnering closely with cross-disciplinary leads to deliver best-in-class gameplay experiences. You will operate with a high degree of ownership shaping both moment-to-moment combat and long-term system design ensuring a cohesive and compelling player experience.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position with some work onsite and some work from home. The home studio for this role is Irvine CA.

Responsibilities

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours so this role includes but is not limited to the following responsibilities:

• Own and drive the design vision for combat systems and gameplay experiences from early concept through final execution.
• Design and implement core combat mechanics including player abilities enemy behaviors and systemic interactions.
• Establish combat design pillars ensuring consistency in feel responsiveness readability and player satisfaction.
• Create and oversee the development of complex enemy encounters that scale across progression and difficulty levels.
• Partner with level design to ensure combat spaces support gameplay clarity pacing and engagement.
• Collaborate with engineering and technical design to evolve tools pipelines and systems supporting combat development.
• Provide leadership through influence by mentoring designers reviewing work and raising the overall quality bar for combat design.
• Drive iteration efforts using playtest feedback metrics and qualitative insights to refine gameplay experiences.
• Author clear structured design documentation that effectively communicates systems features and intent across teams.
• Act as a key stakeholder in cross-disciplinary decision-making ensuring alignment between gameplay narrative and technical constraints.
• Identify risks early and proactively propose solutions to maintain quality and production timelines.

Experience

• 8 years of experience in combat design systems design or related discipline or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated ownership of major gameplay systems through multiple phases of development from prototyping to ship.
• Shipped at least one AAA title in a senior or lead-level design capacity with measurable impact on gameplay systems.
• Experience influencing cross-functional teams and contributing to product-level design decisions.
• Experience working in modern AAA engines and development pipelines.

Knowledge and Skills

• Deep expertise in combat design fundamentals including player feedback encounter design progression systems and tuning.
• Strong systems design capability with the ability to design scalable extensible gameplay frameworks.
• Solid technical proficiency with scripting data-driven design tools or engine-based implementation workflows.
• Strong analytical mindset with experience applying playtest data and feedback to improve design outcomes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to align diverse teams around a shared vision.

Key Attributes

• Player-focused mindset with a passion for delivering exceptional gameplay experiences.
• High level of ownership accountability and craftsmanship in all areas of work.
• Ability to lead through influence mentorship and constructive feedback.
• Strong collaboration skills and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
• Adaptability in an iterative and evolving development environment.

Extra Points

• Experience designing combat systems for AAA titles
• Experience contributing to franchise-defining gameplay or live service titles.
• Background in mentoring or developing other designers.
• Familiarity with scripting or programming languages such as C C# Blueprint Lua or similar.
• Experience building scalable combat systems that support long-term content development.
• Broad knowledge of game genres and systems with strong critical analysis skills.

Your Platform

Best known for iconic videogame universes including Warcraft Overwatch Diablo and StarCraft Blizzard Entertainment Inc. is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard has created some of the industrys most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games and engages millions of players worldwide across PC and consoles.

Our World

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We strive to create a culture where everyone can thrive and contribute to connecting players around the world through epic entertainment.

The videogame industry is fast-paced and continually evolving. As such the duties and responsibilities of this role may change as necessary to support business needs.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical emotional and financial well-being for Every World - weve 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 the U.S. the standard base pay range for this role is $82240.00 - $152160.00 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 roles range details for your local geography during the hiring 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.