Principal Narrative Designer

Elsewhere Entertainment is looking for a Principal Narrative Designer to join the development of a new IP.     
 
Feed your creativity while driving the development of our game’s world and story! Collaborate with our highly-skilled team to build something innovative, exhilarating, and expansively entertaining. 
 
As a member of the narrative department, you’ll create memorable characters and compelling plots as well as design and write the many types of fictional stories, dialogues, cinematics, and other texts in our game. As a member of the project, you’ll help take the studio and our game from great to even better—with a focus on inclusivity, mutual respect (for ourselves and our players), thoughtfulness, empathy, professionalism, and collaboration.  
 
If you’re a passionate writer and a positive, respectful collaborator who enjoys cross-department communication and creative problem-solving as a part of your workflow, we’d love to talk to you! 
 
You’ll help us by… 

• Owning the development of key narrative systems and features in the game 

• Taking narrative ownership of one or more regions, factions, and key characters 

• Developing a new intellectual property’s foundational lore 

• Collaborating with the narrative team and other departments in creating the game’s locations, characters, factions, quests, and plots 

• Writing and revising game dialogue and cinematic scripts 

• Designing, writing, and implementing text for quests, journals, examinables, NPC chatter, items, abilities, and other narrative systems 

• Crafting detailed backstories for the game's locations, factions, and characters 

• Becoming proficient in using the game's proprietary narrative tool 

• Providing constructive feedback on others’ work 

• Acting as a liaison to other departments, conveying the consistent narrative vision of the project 

• Assisting with character casting, and preparing scripts for and attending VO and Mocap sessions 

• Mentoring staff and associate narrative designers  

• Ensuring all tasks are completed according to given specifications and deadlines 

• Performing any additional narrative design responsibilities as assigned by Narrative Leadership 

You’re awesome because you have… 

• 7+ years experience as a professional Narrative Designer (or some combination of applicable training and experience) 

• One or more shipped titles 

• Subject matter expertise specific to RPG narrative design such as designing narrative systems, writing branching dialogues, etc 

• Experience with technical narrative design (implementation in tools, visual scripting, etc) 

• Demonstrable and strong skills as a writer and editor 

• The ability to collaborate and thrive as part of a creative team 

• An eagerness to work independently; are self-driven in taking ownership of tasks in a highly confidential environment 

• Creativity in problem solving and a positive, respectful team-first attitude 

• Experience pitching game narrative concepts in a clear, detailed manner, through strong written and verbal skills 

• Organization methods and the capability to meet deadlines 

• Comfort with self-critique and accepting outside feedback 

• A habit of regularly playing and understanding modern video games 

• A voracious appetite for reading fiction and consuming genre media stories 

Bonus points for… 

• Experience with writing for AAA games 

• Published writing (novels, short fiction, film, television, comics, etc) 

• Major recognition in your field of work 

• Familiarity with all major RPGs released in the last decade 

• Experience in adjacent disciplines such as quest design, environment art, programming, etc 

• Enjoyment of playing a variety of video game genres and titles 

• Experience playing and/or designing pen and paper, board, or trading card games 

Not sure you meet all the qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! At Activision, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.  

Our World   

At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We’re driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™, and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our “press start” is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences.  

We’re not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we’re forging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization.   

We’re in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater — this could be your opportunity to level up.   

Ready to Activate Your Future?  

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