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Game Narrative Designer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Naughty Dog

Senior Game Designer (Combat)

Santa Monica, CA · On-site

$145K - $181K/yr

... narrative, gameplay, and technology. Naughty Dog recently released The Last of Us Part II ... Mentor junior designers and contribute to the overall growth of the design team What skills you ...

Fanatics Collectibles

Game Designer - TCG

Seattle, WA · On-site

$176K/yr

Collaborate with narrative design, creative, and product teams to ensure mechanics are well ... Deep passion for trading card games as both a designer and a player Location All employees of ...

Hasbro

Associate Game Designer - D&D

Renton, WA · On-site

This includes mechanical and narrative design, play innovations, playtests, product exploration, and other design-related tasks. This Associate Game Designer role draws on your D&D knowledge, your ...

Fanatics Commerce

Game Designer - TCG

Seattle, WA · On-site

$98K - $123K/yr

Collaborate with narrative design, creative, and product teams to ensure mechanics are well ... Deep passion for trading card games as both a designer and a player Location All employees of ...

New

Fanatics Collectibles

Game Designer - TCG

Seattle, WA · On-site

$98K - $123K/yr

Collaborate with narrative design, creative, and product teams to ensure mechanics are well ... Deep passion for trading card games as both a designer and a player Location All employees of ...

Gofractional

Senior Writer

Carlsbad, CA · On-site

$82K - $152K/yr

Collaborate effectively with other disciplines including designers, engineers, artists, producers, and animators to deliver a world-class game narrative. * Research subject matter relating to the ...

Hasbro

Associate Game Designer - D&D

Renton, WA · On-site

$33.30 - $50/hr

This includes mechanical and narrative design, play innovations, playtests, product exploration, and other design-related tasks. This Associate Game Designer role draws on your D&D knowledge, your ...

NAUGHTY DOG, LLC

$37 - $50/hr

We're looking for self-motivated, proactive designers who enjoy creating unique experiences and can ... Prototyping, implementing, and owning gameplay scenarios, narrative sequences, interactive objects ...

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How much do game narrative designer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 14, 2026, the average yearly pay for game narrative designer in the United States is $149,118.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $155,000.00 and $155,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a game narrative designer?

A Game Narrative Designer is responsible for creating and shaping the story, characters, and world of a video game. They collaborate with writers, designers, and developers to integrate narrative elements into gameplay, ensuring a cohesive and immersive experience. Their work includes writing dialogue, developing lore, and designing branching story paths that respond to player choices. A strong understanding of storytelling, game mechanics, and player engagement is essential for this role.

What are the typical responsibilities of a game narrative designer within a development team?

A Game Narrative Designer is responsible for crafting stories, dialogue, character arcs, and world-building elements that drive the player's engagement. Day-to-day tasks often include writing and editing scripts, collaborating with designers and artists to ensure the narrative fits the gameplay, and helping to develop branching storylines or dialogue trees. The role also involves playtesting to assess narrative flow and working with audio teams to sync voiceover or sound elements with story moments. This collaborative, iterative process is key to creating immersive gaming experiences that successfully blend gameplay with storytelling.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a game narrative designer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Game Narrative Designer, you need strong storytelling abilities, a deep understanding of interactive narrative structures, and often a background in creative writing or game design. Familiarity with game engines (such as Unity or Unreal), branching narrative tools (like Twine or Ink), and sometimes scripting languages is beneficial. Outstanding collaboration, communication, and adaptability enable effective teamwork with designers, programmers, and artists. These skills ensure that compelling, cohesive stories are seamlessly integrated into engaging gameplay experiences.

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Game Narrative Designer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Game Narrative Designer job openings in the United States as of September 2026, with employment types broken down into 3% Internship, 60% Full Time, 25% Part Time, 1% Temporary, and 11% Contract. Highlights an 88% Physical, 1% Hybrid, and 11% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $149,118 per year, or $71.7 per hour.

Senior Game Designer (Combat)

Santa Monica, CA

Naughty Dog
PC Games • 51 - 200 employees
Learn more about Naughty Dogexternal

Full-time

Re-posted 17 days ago

Job description

Ability to work onsite from our Santa Monica, CA based studio is required. 

For nearly 40 years, Naughty Dog has been crafting best-selling, critically acclaimed games that constantly push the boundaries of narrative, gameplay, and technology. Naughty Dog recently released The Last of Us Part II Remastered as well as a current generation remake of The Last of Us Part I for the PS5. We're also proud to say that The Last of Us Part I is now available for the first time on PC.

Naughty Dog games have long been lauded for their evocative, character-driven stories and attention to detail. We are committed to innovation within our games and as such have curated some of the top creative and technically innovative minds in the industry. We welcome diverse candidates and believe that a broad range of cultural and life experiences contribute to the overall well-being and success of the studio and the titles we craft together.

What you will do: 

  • Pitch, design, implement, and own enemy NPC archetypes 
  • Work with AI programmers to develop foundational NPC technology and implementing and tuning enemy AI behaviors 
  • Work with animators to develop enemy locomotion and traversal, melee moves, ambient behaviors, and other custom abilities. Make every enemy archetype feel unique and memorable 
  • Collaborate with the Design team to conceptualize, prototype, implement, tune, and balance gameplay mechanics and systems  
  • Communicate with animation, programming, and art departments to effectively produce the assets and code support required for the enemies you're owning 
  • Write and maintain documentation that establishes the core vision of the enemy archetypes  
  • Drive communication and collaboration for enemies you design and the levels they are in, ensuring communication across disciplines and meeting deadlines  
  • Effective and respectful communicator and collaborator, both with other designers and members of other departments  
  • Facilitate playtesting and feedback sessions to iterate on combat systems and fine-tune them based on player experiences 
  • Mentor junior designers and contribute to the overall growth of the design team 

What skills you will use:  

  • 5+ years of industry experience in combat design and/or technical design for games, specifically focused on developing action-adventure or shooter games 
  • At least one shipped title as a combat designer or similar role. Experience with behavior trees or similar NPC AI concepts preferred 
  • Strong coding ability: Computer Science degree preferred though not required  
  • Proficient in using game engines and tools (e.g., Unreal Engine, Unity) for combat implementation and design scripting (C#, Lua, Visual Scripting)  
  • Welcomes feedback on their work and embraces the "let's try it" mentality 
  • Proficient and effective communication skills, including diagramming and sketching 
  • Fluent in modern character action-adventure and shooter combat games. Maintains knowledge of the broader gaming landscape trends  
  • Knowledge of narrative structure and how it intersects with gameplay and combat 
  • A keen eye for detail in character action games, able to tune gameplay systems to make them feel smooth and impactful  
  • Strong leadership and mentoring skills 

Apply