Senior Gameplay Engineer

About this role

<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>WE ARE GAME MAKERS</strong></p> <p id="p-rc_d2426063a27301b3-34" data-path-to-node="1"><span data-path-to-node="1,0"><strong data-path-to-node="1,0" data-index-in-node="0"><span class="citation-96">Who we are:</span></strong> </span></p> <p data-path-to-node="1"><span data-path-to-node="1,3"><span class="citation-95">We are a diverse team of developers driven by a passion for our art, united by our core values and inspired by a culture of inclusivity to build amazing games that thrill players everywhere. </span></span><span data-path-to-node="1,6"><span class="citation-94">We pursue growth and innovation in an environment of safety and trust. </span></span><span data-path-to-node="1,9"><span class="citation-93">Our culture is built on the belief that the more varied voices in our collective will strengthen our team and our games. </span></span><span data-path-to-node="1,12"><span class="citation-92">We are looking for our next teammate who will raise our bar and make us better. </span></span> </p> <p id="p-rc_d2426063a27301b3-35" data-path-to-node="3"><span data-path-to-node="3,0"><strong data-path-to-node="3,0" data-index-in-node="0"><span class="citation-91">What we need:</span></strong></span></p> <p data-path-to-node="3"><span data-path-to-node="3,2"> 31st Union is looking for a Senior Gameplay Engineer to develop our Player Bots — AI agents that stand in for human players in our AAA free-to-play, cross-platform action game. Using C++, Unreal Engine 5, and our in-house utility AI framework, you will make bots that fight, traverse, loot, and team up convincingly enough that players second-guess whether they’re facing a human. The same bots power mode backfill and automated testing at scale.</span> </p> <p id="p-rc_d2426063a27301b3-36" data-path-to-node="5"><span data-path-to-node="5,0"><strong data-path-to-node="5,0" data-index-in-node="0"><span class="citation-90">Responsibilities:</span></strong> </span></p> <ul data-path-to-node="6"> <li> <p data-path-to-node="6,0,0">Develop combat behavior: target prioritization, hero-appropriate weapon and ability use, movement, and disengagement</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="6,1,0">Develop humanization: tunable aim, reaction time, and error models across difficulty levels</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="6,2,0">Develop macro behavior: team cohesion, traversal, pacing, events, looting, and progression</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="6,3,0">Extend our utility AI framework: new behaviors, scoring, and tuning</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="6,4,0">Keep bot populations performant: throttling, suspension, and LOD</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="6,5,0">Extend bots as automated test clients, from feature tests to match-scale load tests</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="6,6,0">Build bot evaluation tooling: debug visualization and playtest metrics</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="6,7,0">Partner with design to tune behavior through playtests</p> </li> </ul> <p id="p-rc_d2426063a27301b3-37" data-path-to-node="8"><span data-path-to-node="3,0"><strong data-path-to-node="3,0" data-index-in-node="0"><span class="citation-91">Who you are:</span></strong></span></p> <ul data-path-to-node="9"> <li> <p data-path-to-node="9,0,0">5+ years of gameplay or game AI engineering on shipped action games</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="9,1,0">Strong C++ and Unreal Engine fluency, including AI controllers, navigation, and EQS</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="9,2,0">Utility AI or comparable decision-making architectures</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="9,3,0">AI in networked multiplayer: client/server authority, prediction, dedicated servers</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="9,4,0">Humanlike combat AI: aim and error models, reaction time, believable movement</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="9,5,0">Optimizing many concurrent agents: LOD and tick throttling</p> </li> </ul> <p data-path-to-node="10"><strong data-path-to-node="10" data-index-in-node="0">Nice-to-Haves:</strong></p> <ul data-path-to-node="11"> <li> <p data-path-to-node="11,0,0">Player bots in a competitive shooter</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="11,1,0">Unreal Engine 5, StateTree, and the Gameplay Ability System</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="11,2,0">Control systems (e.g., PID controllers) and input simulation</p> </li> <li> <p data-path-to-node="11,3,0">Automated test clients and load testing</p> </li> </ul> <hr> <p>The pay range for this position in California…