Sr Game Designer

Description

The company is the parent of the PlayStation brand and a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It builds hardware and network services used by more than 100 million people and also owns many well-known entertainment properties.

The studio is based in Montreal and works in a hybrid model. It started in 2021 as a small team with the aim of making games its members have wanted to play.

The studio became the first Sony game development team in Canada in 2022 when it joined PlayStation Studios. Its first game, in development for PlayStation and PC, is a competitive multiplayer action game built around heists and meant to keep players engaged over many years.

You will join the studio as a senior game designer focused on progression and economy, reporting to the Project Lead for Game Design. The role centres on the live service title and the long-term health of its player progression and economy.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain the progression systems, monetization loops, and virtual economies that keep players coming back in a live service game.
• Turn broad player experience goals into clear structural maps, detailed spreadsheets, data tables, and logic models.
• Own the balance, pacing, and tuning of rewards, XP curves, drop rates, currency sinks and sources, and the overall economy so that inflation and progression blockers do not appear.
• Combine progression, monetization, and social features across a multiplayer AAA game, keeping PvE and PvP aligned.
• Serve as the main contact for progression and economy work, collaborating with directors, producers, data analysts, and engineers to confirm the systems can be built and that telemetry is ready.
• After launch, adjust and improve the systems using player metrics, behaviour patterns, and market changes, while keeping the balance intact as new content arrives.

Requirements

• Extensive experience designing systems or progression in at least one shipped AAA multiplayer live service game, where you owned or made major contributions to its economy or progression loops.
• A methodical approach to design, relying on mathematical reasoning, complex spreadsheets, and written structural documentation rather than guesswork.
• Deep knowledge of macro and micro economic principles in modern games, including monetization, virtual currencies, reward pacing, and incentive loops.
• Ability to work directly in the Unreal Engine editor to connect data structures, set up data tables, and test progression changes locally.
• Strong skill in reading live telemetry, player cohorts, A/B test results, and macroeconomic data to guide balance changes and system improvements.
• Ability to turn complex, layered economic dependencies into clear, readable specifications for both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Asset: experience with economy simulation software or mathematical scripting, such as Python, Machinations, or advanced spreadsheet modelling, to stress-test systems before they are built.
• Asset: earlier design experience in related fields such as level design, business intelligence, data analytics, or UX design.

Conditions

Reports to the Project Lead for Game Design.

The role is based in Montreal, with the studio working in a hybrid model.

The company runs background checks at the offer stage for all new hires, which may include criminal background checks for some roles, and will process personal information for this purpose.