Game Programmer Jobs in Portland, OR (NOW HIRING)

Job Title:Expert Threat Intelligence Analyst - RICOCHET - Central TechnologyRequisition ID:R027330Job Description:

Call of Duty is one of the most iconic and successful video game franchises in the world, delivering unforgettable experiences to millions of players every day. At the heart of that experience is fair play, and that's where the RICOCHET Anti-Cheat team comes in.

Our mission is to protect the integrity of the online experience, ensuring every player enjoys a level playing field. As an Expert Threat Intelligence Analyst, you will play a critical role in discovering, reporting, and monitoring the top threats across Call of Duty live titles, including Modern Warfare, Black Ops, Warzone, and future franchise releases.

Your Mission - RICOCHET

We are seeking an Expert Threat Intelligence Analyst to lead and evolve our understanding of adversarial behavior across our game ecosystem. This is an individual contributor role focused on identifying, analyzing, and disrupting cheating, exploitation, and abuse at scale. The role sits at the intersection of intelligence, enforcement, and product, and is responsible for turning complex behavioral insights into meaningful action.

As an expert individual contributor, you will operate with a high degree of autonomy and influence. You will lead complex investigations, develop a deep understanding of cheat ecosystems, and shape how intelligence informs detection systems, enforcement strategies, and long-term game security investments. Your work will directly contribute to protecting fair play and maintaining competitive integrity for our players.

This role is based in our Sherman Oaks, CA or Vancouver, BC office and follows an onsite work schedule of four days per week. Work arrangements may change at the company's discretion to meet business needs.

What you bring to the table

The video game industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners. Therefore, this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Lead complex investigations into cheat providers, exploit abuse, and organized player misconduct

• Analyze in-game telemetry, behavioral data, and enforcement outcomes to identify patterns and opportunities

• Monitor and assess cheat communities, marketplaces, and distribution channels

• Develop detailed profiles of cheat ecosystems, including key actors, tools, and monetization models

• Translate intelligence into actionable outputs such as detection opportunities, enforcement strategies, and product recommendations

• Partner closely with engineering and data teams to ensure insights are operationalized into systems and models

• Support enforcement operations with high-confidence intelligence that improves targeting and accuracy

• Identify emerging threats and proactively recommend mitigation strategies before they scale

• Contribute to the development of intelligence processes, standards, and best practices

• Mentor other analysts and raise the overall quality and rigor of investigations

Player Profile

MinimumRequirements

• 8+ years of experience in game security, anti-cheat, fraud/abuse, or adversarial systems

• Demonstrated experience investigating and disrupting complex adversarial behaviors or ecosystems

• Experience working with large-scale telemetry, behavioral datasets, or player activity data

• Familiarity with tools and workflows used to analyze player behavior, enforcement outcomes, and live service data

• Proven ability to translate analytical findings into concrete outcomes (e.g., detections, enforcement actions, or design changes)

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to clearly present findings to both technical and non-technical audiences

• Experience influencing cross-functional partners and driving alignment without direct authority

• Ability to operate independently in ambiguous, fast-moving environments

Knowledge & Skills

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent professional experience

• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving skills applied to adversarial or behavioral systems

• Deep understanding of player behavior, cheating motivations, and abuse patterns in online games

• Experience supporting high-velocity, live service environments where rapid iteration and response are required

• Ability to synthesize multiple sources of information into clear, actionable insights

• Strong attention to detail combined with the ability to think strategically and systemically

• Effective collaboration skills across engineering, data, operations, and product teams

Extra Points

• Experience with reverse engineering, memory analysis, debugging, or exploit development

• Familiarity with cheat development techniques or game client manipulation

• Experience using relational databases and writing queries (e.g., SQL) to analyze large datasets

• Programming or scripting experience (e.g., Python) for analysis, tooling, or automation

• Experience analyzing online communities related to cheating or abuse (forums, Discord, etc.)

• Background in building or improving detection systems, heuristics, or anti-cheat mechanisms

• Experience developing internal tools, workflows, or automation to improve analyst efficiency

Your Platform

Activision Central Tech works to support our development studios and their titles. Comprised of seven main teams, we have many specialties including big data, privacy and security, motion capture and animation pipeline technologies, graphics, build and infrastructure for studio development and data centers, optimization, systems programming and online services including matchmaking and networking. Central Tech is distributed globally with offices across the U.S., and in Canada, England, and Ireland.

Most of our teams are comprised of both engineering and research talent, allowing us to always have an eye on the future. Our dedicated engineers help with title development and provide valuable knowledge sharing between studios while our researchers are action-oriented and keep a strong connection with the needs of the game studios.

Central Tech is part of Activision. To learn more about us and our research, please visit us at https://research.activision.com/.

Our World

At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment.We'redriven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Guitar Hero. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our "press start" is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences.

We'renot just looking back at our decades-long legacy;we'reforging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization.

We'rein the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater - this could be your opportunity to level up.

Ready to Activate Your Future?

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminateon the basis ofrace, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonableassistanceto individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to candidate-accommodations@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

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.