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The Role
The Intermediate Gameplay Software Engineer will design and implement gameplay features in Unreal Engine 5, collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams, optimizing performance, and providing technical mentorship.
Summary Generated by Built In
Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent game studio where the best talent in the industry can find long-term careers to help grow their abilities while working on a wide range of projects, which encompass world-class IPs as well as our own creations across multiple genres.
In 2022, we announced that our studio is implementing a four-day work week as well as supporting in-studio, remote within Canada, and hybrid work arrangements as permanent options to our employees.
Blackbird Interactive is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent game studio where the best talent in the industry can find long-term careers to help grow their abilities while working on a wide range of projects. These include both world-class IPs and our own creations across multiple genres and platforms.
In 2022, we announced a four-day work week and fully support in-studio, remote (within Canada), and hybrid work arrangements as permanent options for all employees.
We’re looking for an intermediate gameplay engineer to help craft the core player experience in our Unreal Engine 5 projects. From movement to combat and progression systems, you’ll bring game mechanics to life in collaboration with designers, artists, and animators—owning features from prototype through ship.
This role is remote-friendly in Canada (Pacific-time overlap required).
What You’ll Tackle
- Core Gameplay Features – Design and implement player-facing systems such as movement, combat, traversal, interactions, and progression using C++ and Blueprints.
- System Design & Architecture – Create modular, data-driven gameplay systems that support rapid iteration and scale across PC and console platforms.
- Cross-disciplinary Collaboration – Work closely with design, animation, and audio teams to prototype mechanics, tune feel, and refine experiences through playtesting.
- Performance & Stability – Profile and optimize gameplay systems to meet performance and memory budgets, and contribute to stability through testing and debugging.
- Technical Mentorship – Share gameplay engineering best practices through code reviews and informal mentorship of associate engineers.
- Continuous Improvement – Stay up to date with UE5 subsystems (GAS, MassEntity, Chaos), propose tooling or workflow improvements, and help drive internal knowledge sharing.
You’ll Thrive Here If You…
- Have 3+ years of professional experience using C++ in Unreal Engine 4 or 5, with a strong focus on gameplay systems.
- Hold a BSc in Computer Science or a college diploma in software engineering, game programming, or a closely related field.
- Have shipped at least one commercial game featuring your gameplay contributions.
- Are passionate about prototyping, polish, and tight player control and feedback loops.
- Communicate clearly and value cross-functional collaboration.
- Are comfortable with Perforce, Git, or similar version control systems and modern profiling/debugging tools.
Bonus XP
- Experience with Gameplay Ability System, MassEntity, or Chaos physics.
- Familiarity with AI systems like Behavior Trees and EQS for reactive enemy/companion behaviors.
- Contributions to improving build pipelines, CI, or automated gameplay testing.
- Passion for accessibility, player expression, and inclusive game mechanics.
Top Skills
Blueprints
C++
Git
Perforce
Unreal Engine 4
Unreal Engine 5
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The Company
What We Do
Blackbird Interactive (BBI) is a creative-fueled, future-driven, independent studio - behind such games as Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, Hardspace: Shipbreaker, and the upcoming Homeworld 3, Minecraft Legends, and Crossfire: Legion.
Founded by Rob Cunningham, Yossarian King, and Aaron Kambeitz in 2010, the award-winning Vancouver studio boast its own internal CG cinematics department, led by the founder of Pixar Canada, and has also been involved in various game-adjacent projects over the years - such as Project Eagle with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and other initiatives with the eatART Foundation and Sanctuary AI.
