Riot Games was established in 2006 by entrepreneurial gamers who believe that player-focused game development can result in great games. In 2009, Riot released its debut title League of Legends to critical and player acclaim. As the most played video game in the world, over 100 million play every month. Players form the foundation of our community and it’s for them that we continue to evolve and improve the League of Legends experience.

We’re looking for humble but ambitious, razor-sharp professionals who can teach us a thing or two. We promise to return the favor. Like us, you take play seriously; you’re passionate about games. We embrace those who see things differently, aren’t afraid to experiment, and who have a healthy disregard for constraints.

That's where you come in.

As a Principal Game Designer, you will own the end to end Design experience for players. You will lead the design and evolution of gameplay, progression, and out-of-game experiences that engages a global player base. You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, leveraging your deep understanding of Competitive Player motivations, system design, and mobile game development to delight millions of players around the world. Your leadership will guide the design vision from conception to live operations, ensuring that each system aligns with player experience goals and Riot’s design philosophy. In this role, you will be at the forefront of shaping the next evolution of the MOBA genre for mobile players. You will report to the Executive Producer on the team.

As a Rioter in China, you'll join a team of internationally and culturally diverse professionals that share our prioritization of player experience, rejection of convention and maniacal passion for gaming.

To reinforce Riot’s collaborative culture in our China offices, we’ve decided to do away with the constraints of traditional hierarchical title structures that are more common in the region. Titles don’t really matter at any of Riot’s offices, but we chose to take this extra step in our China offices to foster a space where teamwork thrives. We believe that removing this constraint will promote individual autonomy, ownership, collaboration, and a focus on results. We promise you won’t need a title at Riot to make an impact.

Responsibilities:

Lead the design of core game loop systems for Wild Rift, including onboarding, progression systems, and meta-game features.
Define what good looks like for core MOBA gameplay elements such as core combat, champions, gameplay, and balance.
Collaborate with Creative and Publishing disciplines to ensure the end to end design vision is consistent and fully realized from a player’s perspective
Establish a collaboration framework with Design leads of other League Studios titles such that learnings and breakthroughs are shared across the Studio
Translate high-level product goals into actionable design frameworks and deliverables by creating clear design documentation that can be evaluated and implemented by non-designers
Establish design best practices for player feedback, player journey, and feature implementation.
Participate in playtests and user research to gather insights for design improvements.
Mentor and guide other designers, providing constructive feedback and fostering a collaborative design culture.

Required Qualifications:

8 + years of experience in professional Game Design, at least 3 years as Lead Game Design for live games
Experience designing and shipping a competitive or MOBA game
Expertise in gameplay, and/or system design
Ability to balance product goals with design decisions
Strong communication and collaboration skills, with experience working across disciplines.
Deep knowledge and passion for League of Legends and the Wild Rift player base.

Desired Qualifications:

Experience with level design, character design, and live-game balance
Experience with Incubation and R&D processes, including prototyping, pitching, and market validation
Proven ability to design for mobile platforms and a deep understanding of mobile MOBA players' needs.
Business fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English

Our Perks

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming.