Amsterdam jobs : Senior Character Combat Designer
| Company | Guerrilla Games (A PlayStation Studios First-Party Studio) |
| Job Title | Senior Character Combat Designer |
| Location | Amsterdam, Netherlands (On-site / Hybrid eligible) |
| Department | Game Design / Combat Systems |
| Employment Type | Full-time |
| Experience Level | Senior (AAA Experience Required) |
| Core Specialization | Melee & Ranged Combat Systems, Playable Character Abilities |
| Key Tools | Visual Scripting (Blueprints / Node Graphs), Animation State Machines |
| Relocation Support | Full Visa, Immigration, and Relocation Assistance Available |
Executive Summary ::
Guerrilla Games is seeking an exceptional, highly motivated Senior Character Combat Designer to join our world-class development team. Standing out among premium Amsterdam jobs, this position offers a rare opportunity to shape the future of interactive entertainment. In this role, you will be a visionary force behind our gameplay experience, taking ownership of the design, iteration, and execution of central playable characters from our studio in the vibrant heart of the Netherlands.
Your primary mission will be to engineer combat experiences that are deeply engaging, responsive, and unforgettable. This position requires a rare blend of artistic sensibility and technical rigor—a designer who possesses a granular understanding of input timing, animation blending, frame data, and spatial mechanics, while keeping a macroscopic view of player psychology, accessibility, and cooperative dynamics.Amsterdam Jobs
If you are a seasoned designer who thrives in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary environment and possesses a proven track record of shipping acclaimed combat systems, Guerrilla offers a premier choice among Amsterdam jobs where your craft can truly shine. Amsterdam jobs.
Core Vision & Strategic Objectives
At Guerrilla Games, we believe that exceptional combat is not merely a sequence of button presses; it is a fluid dialogue between the player and the virtual world. The Senior Character Combat Designer stands at the intersection of core mechanics and player expression. Among premier Amsterdam jobs in the gaming sector, this role offers an unparalleled opportunity to architect heroic archetypes and versatile systems. You will cater to a wide spectrum of players—from casual enthusiasts who appreciate cinematic spectacle, to hardcore tacticians who demand frame-perfect execution and deep mechanical synergy.
Your work will directly define the “game feel” of our next major project, making this one of the most impactful Amsterdam jobs for creative gameplay innovators. You will breathe life into concept art and narrative briefs, translating abstract character personas into tactile, mechanical realities. This requires a profound appreciation for how visual effects (VFX), audio cues (SFX), controller haptics, and animation data converge to create the sensation of impact, weight, momentum, and power.
Key Responsibilities
As a senior Combat Designer leader within the design department, your day-to-day responsibilities will span across creative ideation, technical execution, cross-departmental collaboration, and data-driven optimization:
1. Mechanical Conceptualization & Ability Design
- Collaborative Architecture: Work in absolute lockstep with the Lead Combat Designer to establish the overarching vision for player combat. You will design, pitch, and document combat styles, specialized weapon kits, and unique character attributes.
- Tactical Depth & Synergy: Craft distinct character abilities that offer meaningful choice, high-skill ceilings, and risk-reward trade-offs.
- Cooperative Frameworks: Design specialized mechanics that encourage and reward player cooperation, allowing multiple distinct characters to combine their abilities for devastating, satisfying tactical advantages.
2. Cross-Disciplinary Development & Implementation
- The Triangle of Combat: Serve as the central hub connecting Animation, Gameplay Programming, and Design. You will collaborate daily within a multi-disciplinary strike team to translate 2D storyboards and design documents into playable prototypes.
- System Integration: Take a hands-on approach to implementing mechanics. You will integrate visual effects, sound design, and controller rumble into character actions to guarantee that every hit, parry, dodge, and spell feels incredibly rewarding.
- Full Lifecycle Ownership: Guard the design integrity of your characters from the initial brainstorming phase, through internal playtests, localization, optimization, alpha and beta milestones, all the way to final gold master and post-launch support.
3. Telemetry, Analytics, and Iteration
- Data-Informed Design: Leverage advanced user telemetry, heatmaps, and player feedback loops to analyze how combat mechanics perform in the wild.
- Balance and Polish: Utilize empirical quantitative data alongside qualitative feedback from user research labs to meticulously fine-tune variables such as damage scaling, tracking angles, active frames, recovery windows, and resource costs.
- Evolutionary Mindset: Constantly challenge and refine your own assumptions, systematically removing friction points in the user experience while preserving the core fun factor of the encounter design.
Candidate Profile: Who You Are
Guerrilla Games is looking for a designer who pairs a deep, intuitive passion for action games with the technical literacy required to build them inside a complex modern engine.
Professional Experience & Proven Expertise
- Industry Veteran: You possess extensive experience working within game design, with a clear, demonstratable specialization in melee and ranged combat systems.
- AAA Pedigree: You have successfully shipped at least one critically acclaimed, large-scale AAA title, where you were directly responsible for authoring player-facing combat systems, enemy responses, or character abilities.
- The Kinesthetic Eye: You possess an innate mastery of third-person action games. You understand the nuances of tracking, camera positioning, target acquisition, hit-stop, screen shake, and input buffering across an array of industry-defining titles.
Technical & Systems Proficiency
- Visual Scripting Mastery: You are highly proficient with visual scripting architectures (such as Unreal Engine Blueprints, proprietary Node Graphs, or equivalent systems) and use them to independently build and test mechanics.
- Animation Architecture: You are comfortable diving into complex animation state machines, blend trees, and layered animations. You understand how to balance visual fidelity with instantaneous gameplay responsiveness.
- Network & Multi-user Constraints: You possess a firm grasp of multiplayer engineering constraints. You understand the fundamental challenges of state replication, latency compensation, network synchronization, and how local client prediction alters the perception of combat timing.
- Prototyping Mentality: You believe that a playable prototype is worth a thousand design documents. You love getting your hands dirty in the editor, quickly assembling grey-box logic to prove a concept before requesting heavy engineering or animation support.
Communication & Cultural Alignment
- Constructive Critique: You thrive in an environment built on radical candor and mutual respect. You can deliver clear, actionable, ego-free feedback to your peers and gracefully incorporate critique from directors to improve your work.
- Articulate Communicator: You possess exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English, allowing you to pitch complex mechanics clearly to executives and write pristine design specifications for engineering teams.
- Autonomy and Drive: You are a self-motivated professional who proactively identifies design bottlenecks, proposes elegant solutions, and takes complete psychological ownership of your features.
Location, Benefits & Studio Environment
Living and Working in Amsterdam
This position is based on-site at our state-of-the-art studio in the historic center of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Known for its exceptional quality of life, open culture, and progressive infrastructure, Amsterdam provides a vibrant backdrop for creative professionals seeking top-tier Amsterdam jobs.
Relocation and Immigration Support
We welcome global talent. For qualified international candidates, Guerrilla provides comprehensive relocation support, including:
- Full visa sponsorship and immigration handling for you and your immediate family.
- Temporary housing assistance upon arrival.
- Relocation allowances to cover moving logistics.
- Assistance navigating local administrative requirements (such as the Dutch 30% ruling tax incentive, where applicable).
Hybrid Work Models
While Guerrilla Games believe that the spontaneous collaboration of an on-site studio environment is vital for crafting AAA combat games, we champion a modern work-life balance. Depending on your role’s specific requirements, Guerrilla offers flexible hybrid work arrangements, permitting team members to work from home one or more days per week.
About Guerrilla & Sony Interactive Entertainment
At Guerrilla Games, diversity fuels innovation. We are convinced that a studio comprised of varied backgrounds, cultures, life experiences, and perspectives is our ultimate superpower. It allows us to create rich, universally resonant worlds that captivate audiences worldwide. As an equal opportunity employer, we actively foster an inclusive, empowering ecosystem where merit, passion, and unique perspectives are celebrated.
Please Note: Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts comprehensive background checks (which may include criminal record verifications depending on local jurisdiction and role requirements) at the official offer stage. All personal data collected during this process is managed strictly in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Notice.
Application Requirements
To be considered for this premier position, your application must showcase not just what you have done, but how you think about combat design. Please submit the following:
1. Curriculum Vitae (CV): A comprehensive breakdown of your employment history, shipped titles, and specific technical proficiencies.
2. Cover Letter: A brief narrative detailing your design philosophy, your favorite combat mechanic in a modern game (and why), and what draws you to Guerrilla.
3. Design Portfolio: A link or PDF showcasing your best work. Crucial: Your portfolio should feature gameplay videos or breakdowns demonstrating combat systems you personally designed, scripted, or balanced. Please explicitly label your exact contributions to the projects displayed.
