Principal Game Designer

Join Creative Assembly and craft deep and detailed games that last, entertaining millions of players across the globe for decades.

The Role:

Creative Assembly is looking for a Principal Game Designer to join the talented Total War working on exciting projects in the Total War franchise at our headquarters studio in Horsham, UK.

You'll become part of a world-class development team working on a title in the award-winning Total War series. And you will be able to offer insights that drive the way our projects are shaped and directly influence our players’ gaming experience. 

You will develop and champion game features that provide immersive and engaging gameplay experiences, applying your expertise to designing both game systems and the content that leverages these systems to the greatest effect. 

Beyond conceptual and technical skills, you must have a strong game design intuition, the capacity to understand and iterate upon gameplay aesthetics and “feel”.

Flexible working at Creative Assembly includes hybrid, fully remote within country of employment for eligible roles, and in-studio. We recognise that there is no one-size-fits-all approach and empower our teams to define the working patterns which work best for them, which may mean different things for different teams and roles and at different times.

This role is Hybrid, it cannot offer fully remote working. Further details can be discussed during the recruitment process.

Please note that a motivation letter is required for this position and applications without such will not be considered.

What you’ll be doing:

On a day-to-day basis, you will: 

As a Principal Game Designer, you will take full ownership and responsibility for multiple features and ensure they are delivered to the highest quality. This is to include researching, documenting, creating, implementation, balancing and more. 

You will create systems and content that provide immersive, engaging, and valuable experiences that strive to meaningfully uphold the game's pillars, themes and vision. 

You will collaborate with the design team to create detailed feature designs and will work closely alongside developers from other disciplines in order to ensure that the features you are responsible for are developed to the highest standard, from initial concept to final release.

Delivering an exceptional player experience through your work, is among your highest priorities, as is the desire to inspire and bond the development team.

As a Principal you will develop standards and best practices, set the bar for quality and seek continuous improvement across the whole design pipeline.

You will spot problems and potential hurdles in advance and seek ways to avoid them. You will provide support to your teammates and uphold the direction of your leads and directors. You will be aware of the development status of the project in your area, adjacent areas, and as a whole. You will have excellent communication within and across your team and discipline. 

You will work independently and deliver on your tasks expertly and reliably. You will have an excellent understanding of your area’s pipelines and routines and will be capable of driving new and experimental initiatives that break new ground in it.

You are responsible for creating and maintaining fun and balanced features, you will also clearly communicate regular updates to the relevant discipline teams – especially where your work directly impacts them - and must be proactive in communicating progress and solving problems.

Knowledge, Skill and Experience:

Essential:

• Significant Games industry knowledge and experience - understanding the process of developing and delivering a game; Having shipped games and seen development from start to finish; Continuous improvement mindset;

• Demonstrable ability to analyse gameplay features, identify strengths and weaknesses, and to recommend improvements;

• Champion of Player value;

• Experience using Excel and ability to balance large sets of numbers, for unit balance, progression systems etc.

• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written; can communicate clearly and concisely in English;

• Wide-ranging experience playing a variety of video games, interested in why things work

• Ability to listen and be open to feedback and integrating that into your work;

• Ability to coach and mentor less experienced members of own discipline

Desirable:

• Shipped at least one title in a Senior or Principal Designer position.

• Any shipped titles or personal projects, board game designs etc.

• Deep understanding of Total War games

• Deep understanding of games in the Strategy genres (Grand, RTS, 4X etc.)

• Modding experience

• Experience in gameplay scripting in LUA, C# or other language

• Knowledge of and interest in history

• Experience in using metrics to improve design

• Great attention for detail and strong visual sense

• Experienced in other game design areas, such as AI or Narrative design

ABOUT CREATIVE ASSEMBLY:

We care deeply about the experiences we create and put our players at the heart of our decisions. We are all game makers; no matter our role we are empowered to make significant contributions to our games, supported by skills development and growth opportunities.

Most roles at Creative Assembly are hybrid; what this looks like will be discussed during the interview process. For many teams, this is 3 days a week in the studio. CA has the right to change requirements based on the needs of the business.

We offer many benefits to support you and your family including:

• Work from Anywhere for a temporary period each year (restrictions apply such as VISAs)

• Enhanced holiday allowance, maternity and paternity breaks, flexibility with our core hours, and no-notice holidays

• Bespoke relocation package for you and your dependents

• Private medical and dental insurance, life insurance, permanent health insurance, critical illness cover and free health care screening

• Additional benefits ranging from free games and work parties to discount on technology

• Wellbeing support and virtual confidential counselling

We are an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, religion or belief. Our studio sites have disabled access.