Requisition Number: 164768

Senior Narrative Designer

At Maxis, we thrive on outrageous thinking. It’s the fuel that inspires the best games in the world. We’re creators and great storytellers. Our mission is not just about amazing our peers – it’s about amazing our fans. Taking risks. Collaborating with each other. Daring to dream big. Together, we can improve the way millions play every day.

As a Senior Narrative Designer on The Sims, you’ll report to the Creative Director and work with a team of enthusiastic industry craftspeople from all walks of life. You will use your passion and knowledge to lead the development of the narrative experience from initial prototypes through final design.

You will work with your engineering, design, XD, UXR and Production partners, along with using feedback and research insights to create experiences that surprise, delight, and invite millions of gamers around the world to Play with Life.

The Sims has a very unique player base with 60% of our audience being women between the ages of 18-24. We are looking for someone with deep insights on how to create the best stories and experiences for our players.

Responsibilities

Guide the delivery of the following:

Define and and maintain the narrative vision of the project.
Explore new ways to bring characters to life and create emotional experiences in a non-linear simulation experience.
Work with multiple disciplines to direct and implement the characters, settings, goals, and conflicts from drafts in game.
Work with the tools team to improve workflow and processes.
Create design documentation to support prototyping efforts.
Partner with Development Directors to track tasks, identify risk, and clarify changes in work.
Partner with UX to design, research, and implement features, particularly for introducing narrative elements and decisions.
Aid team leadership in gathering presentation materials.
Playtest, attend UXR sessions, and participate in organizing feedback/insights.
Document findings for future use in Sims development.

Qualifications

Significant Narrative Game Genre design experience, especially in the area of creating the production pipeline to integrate story with the gameplay.
Significant experience writing fictional stories, ideally interactive experiences.
Capability to lead cross-discipline prototyping and idea iteration, actively participating in the development of a feature from start to finish.
Experience with young adult fiction, pop-culture stories, in particular romantic narratives.
Hands-on implementation for an interactive experience or mod.
Excited by and helping define new business and distribution models like live services through the lens of narrative elements.
Knowledge of popular interactive story machinima or mod communities a plus (ex: The Sims, Episode, Grand Theft Auto Online).
Excellent communication and presentation skills required.

About EA At Electronic Arts, we exist to Inspire the World to Play. We create extraordinary new game experiences for our millions of players everywhere by bringing together talented people that combine creativity, innovation, and passion. We know that our strength lies in the diversity of our people. We immerse our employees into an inclusive culture, and provide opportunities for learning and leading that allow them to do the most impactful and rewarding work of their careers. We put our people first. We provide comprehensive benefit packages with a focus on health and wellbeing to support your needs and help you balance your career and personal life. We provide access to dynamic and collaborative work environments, opportunities to connect and contribute through our Employee Resource Groups, and support for a balanced life with paid time off and maternity and paternity leave, plus free video games and so much more! Electronic Arts is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, religion, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, marital status, family status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Electronic Arts also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.