Freelance Game Narrative Designer Jobs in Riverside, CA

Team Name:
Unannounced Project
Job Title:
Senior Combat Designer II, Unannounced Project | Irvine, CA
Requisition ID:
R027806
Job Description:
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 generations-only 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 II 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

• 12+ 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 industry's 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' - we've 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 https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.
In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $99,200.00 - $183,520.00 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 role's range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In 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.