We want a dreamer. A designer that never stops asking for more, pushing for quality, and smashing through every obstacle in the pursuit of creating something truly compelling. Second, in this role, you get to do the one thing most creatives in gaming desire most…the opportunity to concept, innovate, and implement some of the world’s most unique enemies for an amazing open world game. You will own the process of making enemies from inception to completion including working with artists to integrate incoming assets including models, animations and visual effects, creating behavior profiles with weapons and abilities that help give each enemy a unique role on the battlefield and making a well-rounded adversary that tests player skills and masteries in new and exciting ways. In addition, you will be asked to come up with dynamic strategies for enemies to work together in noticeable and compelling manners through various group behaviors that highlight their strengths and improves upon their individual talents.
What You Will Do
- Design, implement, tune, and balance every element of the enemies for a AAA open world game
- Must have a deep understanding of behavior trees, utility systems, locomotion, perception, reactions and targeting and have shipped at least one title working on these or similar systems
- Ideal candidates will also be familiar with concepts such as tethering, tokening, throttling, pathfinding, aggro, bullet bending and animation tagging
- All designs must work in an online environment and be performant in terms of bandwidth and processing as well as be fun and provide unique and challenging gameplay
- The ability to collaborate outside of design, working with artists of all types, animators, engineers, and audio designers to ensure the vision for the enemy comes together holistically.
Who We Think Will Be A Good Fit
While mastery of craft, demonstrated experience, and boundless creativity are all essential elements of the position, we value three other incredibly important elements in our designers at Hangar 13.
- The first is a true love of gaming. We find time at work and at home to engage in games across the spectrum of gaming, from the newest AAA releases, to the most novel of indie titles, to the most obscure mobile games, gaming is a big part of who we are
- Second, a huge appetite for entertainment in general. Great stories, great interactions, great experiences, and great creativity can be observed in nearly every form of entertainment, whether that be a local play, the newest movie, a hit series on Netflix, or a book you simply can’t put down. We’re voracious consumers of entertainment, taking inspiration from anything and everything we can
- Third, we’re positive by nature. While we’re quick to give feedback and hold each other accountable to an incredibly high bar for quality, we’re supportive of each other and the game we’re making
Who We Are
Hangar 13 is the internal 2K development studio behind the award-winning Mafia franchise. The studio is comprised of industry veterans drawn from a diverse range of studios, who have collectively shipped hundreds of titles across a wide variety of genres. Though we hail from all over the world, and our backgrounds are wildly different, one thing binds us all together – the belief that “Every Player’s Story is Unique.”
Hangar 13 is based in four locations: Novato (California), Brighton (UK), and Brno & Prague (Czech Republic).
We work collaboratively across our 4 locations to develop games as one global team. Each of our locations provides the opportunity to work on big-budget, AAA console in a diverse and inclusive environment!
Located just 30 minutes north of San Francisco and 30 minutes south of Napa Valley wine country, Hangar 13’s Novato location has found its home within 2K’s headquarters in Northern California. Situated in Hamilton Landing inside a renovated United States Air Force base hangar, you will find our talented and passionate team within invigorating Marin County. You can walk out the door and explore famous hiking and mountain biking trails as well as the gorgeous coastline. In addition to working in an exceptional setting conducive to Hangar 13’s inclusive and creatively diverse work environment, the Bay Area also provides employees with access to vibrant nightlife, world-class cuisine, local farmers markets, great public schools, and cultural metropolitan experiences. Onsite amenities include fully equipped break areas, company sponsored food trucks and raffle prizes, new state of the art gym, subsidized fitness classes and massage therapy, electric car charging stations and much more! We are only 5 minutes off of highway 101 and a 15-minute walk from the nearest SMART station.
Please note that 2K Games and its studios never uses instant messaging apps or personal email accounts to contact prospective employees or conduct interviews and when emailing, only use 2K.com and hangar13games.com accounts.
