Systems Designer

Sucker Punch Productions, L.L.C. was founded in October 1997, and has steadily built its reputation by creating innovative, stylish, critically acclaimed character-based video games. Based in Bellevue, WA, the team recently released the third installment of the inFamous franchise, Second Son, a next generation super hero action-adventure, exclusively for PLAYSTATION 4.

Are you the sort of Systems Designer that reads though board game instruction manuals as if they were spy thrillers? Do you look through the rule set and instantly see opportunities for betrayals and glorious come-from-behind victories? Do you inevitably end up creating a few new rules to make the experience even more dramatic? Is that you? If it is, let’s talk. We need people who understand how to translate game mechanics into powerful emotional responses. Sucker Punch games are fun because they put innovative player abilities on a collision course with crafty enemies and challenging environments. As a Systems Designer, you’re in the middle of this, creating all of these components and mixing them together into a magical game design gumbo.

* Work closely with the other systems designers and with the game play programming team to define and implement the tightly-integrated, ground-breaking, mutually-reinforcing features in our game—player abilities, enemies and obstacles to be overcome, plus the systems that tie everything together. * Provide clear leadership for all the functional disciplines you’re collaborating with. * Provide crisp feedback in order to quickly iterate on concepts, proposing solutions as well as criticisms. * Contribute to the overall game design. We’re a collaborative group, and we expect every member of the team to have an impact on the overall player experience.

* Have shipped at least one title as a game designer. Extra bonus points if one of your titles has had significant commercial or critical success. * Demonstrated ability to bring out the best in a cross-disciplinary team. Must be a clear communicator, and an expert juggler of the contributions from different disciplines. * Must have some programming or scripting experience. * Must be eligible to work in the US and willing to relocate to Seattle. * Proficiency in Maya or other 3D modeling and animation package. * Experience working on an open-world game.