Senior Combat Designer

About the Company:

AGBO is an artist-led, Academy Award-winning independent studio focused on developing and producing innovative story universes across film, television, and digital platforms. Founded in 2017 by visionary directors Anthony and Joe Russo, AGBO’s mission is to inspire and advance the next generation of storytelling to entertain and influence audiences worldwide. AGBO’s productions include Everything Everywhere All At Once, Extraction, The Electric State, and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.

In 2023, AGBO welcomed Donald Mustard—former Chief Creative Officer at Epic Games and co-creator of Fortnite—as a partner. Mustard brings a bold creative vision to AGBO: to expand what storytelling can be through immersive, interconnected worlds that span across media. We’re building the future of storytelling—and we’re looking for bold, creative minds to help shape it. If you’re ready to help define what comes next, we’d love to meet you.
Position Summary:
As Senior Combat Designer, you'll be hands-on in designing and implementing the moment-to-moment gameplay that defines how our games feel in action. You’re a system-savvy, feel-first designer who understands that great combat lives at the intersection of character, camera, and controls – and you know how to bring those elements together in ways that deliver precision, fluidity, and rewarding to play. Working closely with programmers, animators, and other designers, you’ll help shape and refine the core combat loop – from prototyping new ideas to tuning the final experience.  This is a hands-on, high-impact role on an ambitious team creating something special and exciting.
Key Responsibilities:  

• Design, prototype, and iterate on core combat systems – including player abilities, enemy behaviors, weapons, and feedback loops.
• Own and refine gameplay to support tight, responsive combat, and smooth traversal.
• Collaborate closely with engineers and animators to bring combat mechanics to life in-game.
• Participate in playtests and use feedback and metrics to refine gameplay.
• Contribute to a collaborative and highly iterative design culture.
  

Qualifications & Skills:

• 5+ years of experience in gameplay or combat design with at least one shipped action or combat-focused title, bonus if you helped grow and maintain a live service game.
• Demonstrated expertise in designing and tuning player-centric combat systems.
• Leverage UE5 Blueprints and the Gameplay Ability System to prototype and build player abilities, weapons, and combat mechanics.
• Strong grasp of character, camera, and controls and how they inform engaging combat and movement mechanics.
• Collaborative mindset and excellent communication skills.
• Experience working closely with animation systems and/or designing melee or ranged combat systems.
• A passion for tuning, iteration, gameplay, design, and crafting joyful player experiences.
• Significant experience in UE4 and/or UE5.
• Bonus: Previous experience at a startup or on early-phase projects.
• Bonus: An interest in film, cross-medium storytelling, or experimental gameplay
  

The typical base salary for this position ranges from $145,000-$175,000 annually. Actual offers will be determined based on experience. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires in CA, NY, NC, and UT. Actual offers will be determined using local market data for the identified candidate’s geographic area and may vary from the stated range. 

AGBO Films, LLC is committed to operating fair and unbiased recruitment procedures allowing all applicants an equal opportunity for employment, free from discrimination on the basis of religion, race, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability, color, ethnic or national origin or any other classification as may be protected by applicable law. We aim to recruit the right people for the jobs we have to offer, and to assess applications on the basis of relevant skills, education and experience.
AGBO participates in E-Verify - English | Spanish
The job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent to this position.
Role location is flexible for the right person, preferred locations Salt Lake City, UT; Raleigh, NC; or Los Angeles, CA.