Contract Senior Story Designer (Unannounced Project)

At ArenaNet, we’ve always believed that games are art. They have the power to communicate ideas and tell stories. They can change the way we think, reflect our cultures, and move us. As the developer of the award-winning Guild Wars game series, we’re proud to share our passion for the online worlds we’ve created with over 21 million players worldwide. ArenaNet develops and publishes games for every kind of person, which means our games need to be built by every kind of person. We believe the best experiences come from working together, celebrating differences, and helping each of our team members shine. We are looking for a Contract Senior Story Designer to help define and implement high-quality gameplay content and systems for an unannounced project built in Unreal Engine 5. This is an advanced role where you’ll be asked to own complex iteration, work collaboratively with multiple disciplines, and establish and maintain quality and technical standards for our content. WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR Collaborate – Partner with Level Design, Technical Design, Narrative, Art, and Engineering to deliver cohesive and quality player-facing content. Define – Partner with Technical Design and Engineering to establish and harden implementation tools and pipelines for content. Document - Maintain and add to documentation of features and systems. Plan – Work with Content Leads to support development timelines and goals for content completion. Implement - Use Unreal Engine 5 tools and scripting systems to build and iterate on gameplay experiences. Listen - Participate in playtests and incorporate feedback to improve pacing, clarity, and player engagement. Polish - Iterate on content based on player feedback, internal playtests, and design reviews to ensure gameplay moments are polished, intuitive, and aligned with the overall player experience. Exemplify – Be an example for the team of the quality bar, how to work effectively within constraints, and how to be a professional within the industry. WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL 5+ years of experience of game development with a focus on quest design, mission design, and technical implementation 1 or more AAA games shipped in a content/story focused role. Pre-production game design experience. Experience implementing gameplay content using Unreal Engine 5 Experience establishing technical requirements for content creation inside Unreal Engine 5 Strong understanding of narrative, encounter design, and mission flow Ability to implement and iterate content using engine tools, scripting systems, or visual scripting Excellent collaboration and communication skills when working with cross-disciplinary teams Engineering or strong Technical backgrounds a plus Applications will be accepted until Friday, June 19th by 10am PT. If the deadline is extended, the posting will be updated accordingly. If the position is filled before this date, the posting will be removed. Don’t meet every single requirement on this job post? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At ArenaNet, we believe diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and backgrounds make us a better team – we celebrate it. So, if you’re excited about this role, but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification listed, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. Apply To This Job