Senior Game Designer, Competitive Systems - VALORANT

As a Senior Game Designer, you will design, tweak, and optimize the player experience. Your analytical skills, player insight, and creativity aid in crafting in- and out-of-game experiences that engage and surprise players. You will collaborate with interdisciplinary teams and work with every tool at hand to innovate and iterate player-focused designs that'll delight millions around the world.

VALORANT is Riot’s take on a character-based tactical shooter (for more info on VALORANT click here!). As a Game Designer III on the Competitive Systems team, you’ll design and deliver world-class competitive and ranked systems that celebrate mastery, fairness, and player growth. You’ll develop a deep understanding of what drives competitive players and design systems that are both strategically sound and deeply satisfying. You’ll also craft solutions that address diverse player experiences across platforms, ensuring competitive integrity and engagement for all. This role reports to the Lead Metasystems Designer.

Responsibilities:

• Design and evolve competitive and ranked systems that reward player skill, growth, and long-term investment in VALORANT.
• Develop and support matchmaking systems that ensure fair and balanced competition.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to bring new features from concept to live deployment.
• Identify and explore new design opportunities in partnership with Product Managers and Design Leadership.
• Create multiple design solutions with clear articulation of trade-offs, risks, and alignment with product and player goals.
• Playtest VALORANT regularly, providing feedback to improve existing systems and prototype new ideas.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of professional Game Design experience.
• Experience developing matchmaking, ranked, or progression systems.
• Shipped or contributed to at least one AAA+ online competitive title.
• Demonstrated ability to design and iterate on complex systems with a clear understanding of player impact and downstream effects.
• Strong communication skills with proven ability to articulate design rationale and decision frameworks to team members.

Desired Qualifications:

• Deep passion and understanding of competitive online games and their player communities.
• Familiarity with online shooters, especially VALORANT or tactical shooters.
• Ability to interpret and learn from charged or emotional player feedback to improve the product experience.
• Experience balancing competitive integrity with engaging and rewarding gameplay systems.
• Experience developing across multiple platforms (PC, Mobile, Console).

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise and a collaborative spirit that prioritizes the delight of players. We will look at your past studies and experience, but for this role, we also look for dedicated people with a personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this is the role for you!

Our Perks:

Riot has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

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