Gameplay Designer

Devoted Studios is a globally remote game development company specializing in Co-development, Porting, and End-to-End Art Production for the global gaming industry. We collaborate across time zones to support projects on all major platforms, engines and styles - from AAA titles to emerging technologies. Our team includes world-class talents who bring deep expertise in external development, pipeline optimization, and creative problem-solving. Whether it’s porting games to new systems, enhancing gameplay features, or crafting stunning visuals, Devoted Studios operates as a trusted, flexible extension of our partners’ internal teams. We are proud to be the development partner of choice for industry leaders such as: - Epic - Xbox - Meta - Obsidian Entertainment - Riot - Gearbox Software We are looking for a Gameplay Designer specializing in combat systems, player abilities, and in-engine implementation to help shape responsive, satisfying, and scalable gameplay experiences across co-development projects. You will design, prototype, implement, and tune combat mechanics, ability kits, and encounter-driven gameplay directly in-engine, with a strong focus on feel, clarity, and player impact. This is a hands-on role for a designer who is comfortable owning both the design intent and the in-engine execution, while contributing to ongoing gameplay improvements, live updates, and player-facing issue resolution. Key Responsibilities: - Design, prototype, implement, and iterate on player combat mechanics, including attacks, dodges, counters, cooldowns, combos, timing windows, and other core gameplay interactions. - Design and tune player ability kits, skill systems, and progression hooks, defining their inputs, effects, interactions, upgrade paths, and gameplay roles. - Work directly in Unreal Engine 5 to build and iterate on gameplay systems, with strong hands-on use of Blueprints for implementation, prototyping, and tuning. - Collaborate closely with gameplay engineers to support implementation, extend features, and work with light scripting in C++ where needed. - Tune moment-to-moment combat feel, including responsiveness, readability, hit reactions, feedback timing, damage communication, and overall player satisfaction. - Design enemy archetypes, combat scenarios, and encounter structures that create readable threats and varied gameplay challenges. - Build and maintain design documentation, including combat specs, ability sheets, flow diagrams, stat tables, and tuning notes. - Support gameplay iteration across development and live updates, helping improve combat balance, ability performance, and player experience over time. - Help identify, triage, and resolve gameplay bugs, balance issues, exploits, and other player-impacting combat or ability problems. - Partner with design, engineering, animation, VFX, audio, QA, and production to ensure gameplay systems are polished, maintainable, and aligned with project goals. Requirements - 3+ years of gameplay, combat, or systems design experience in a professional development environment. - Proficiency in Unreal Engine 5, with the ability to implement and iterate on gameplay content directly in-engine. - Strong working knowledge of Blueprints for prototyping, gameplay logic, ability scripting, and feature tuning. - Ability to work with light scripting in C++, especially in collaboration with engineers to support gameplay systems and implementation needs. - At least one shipped title where you were a primary contributor to combat, gameplay abilities, or core player mechanics. - Strong instincts for game feel, with the ability to identify and solve issues related to responsiveness, clarity, timing, and satisfaction. - Understanding of action gameplay fundamentals such as timing windows, hit reactions, priority, invulnerability states, input flow, and combat readability. - Experience designing ability systems with depth, synergy, and clear mastery curves. - Clear communication and documentation skills, with the ability to explain both the design and the reasoning behind tuning decisions. - Collaborative working style and comfort giving and receiving feedback across disciplines. Nice to have: - Experience with Unreal Engine’s Gameplay Ability System (GAS). - Experience supporting live games, combat tuning, or post-launch gameplay updates. - Background in action-RPG, character-action, shooter, or encounter-heavy gameplay design. - Familiarity with enemy AI behaviors, encounter scripting, or animation state integration in Unreal. - Strong interest in analyzing and deconstructing combat feel across modern games. Benefits - 26 days leave throughout the year (accrued with tenure and company downtime during holiday periods) - Interesting and challenging tasks – solve diverse and challenging issues, communicate with people within the company as well as with our partners; - Convenient working conditions – remote work, the opportunity to build your own working day with flexible working hours - А chance to work in a highly professional and dynamic team working with a wide range of International Game Production projects, attractive remuneration package, and opportunities to develop professionally. This is a remote, full-time contracted position. We are an equal opportunity company and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for a contract without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.