{"id":2839712,"url":"https://alion.io/job/crosskeygames-experienced-technical-designer-player-combat","title":"Experienced Technical Designer (Player & Combat)","company":{"id":4448710,"name":"Cross Key Games","domain":"crosskeygames.co.uk","url":"https://alion.io/company/crosskeygames","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workable","truth_index":null},"role":"Design","role_family":"Design","seniority":null,"employment_type":"contractor","work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"posting_text","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":[],"countries":[],"hiring_countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":{"min":27500,"max":35000,"currency":"GBP","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":46653},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Git","optional":false},{"name":"GitHub","optional":false},{"name":"Unreal Engine","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-06T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-06","last_verified_at":"2026-10-21T17:45:02Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":16,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":16},"description":"Job type: Fixed-term contract - 4 Months\nHours: Full time, 37.5 hours per week\nSalary: £27,500 to £35,000 FTE, pro-rata for 4 month contract\nLocation: Fully remote, UK-based\nReporting to: Project Lead\nAbout us\nCross Key Games is a new independent studio based in the UK. We create distinctive, systems driven games with strong player ownership and our ambition is to build memorable original IP.\nThe project and this opportunity\nThis is a hands-on prototype project with a short development schedule. We’re looking for an experienced designer who can hit the ground running, work independently, collaborate closely with the team, and turn ideas into playable results quickly.\nWe have an early prototype and are looking to take its systems, magic combat and gameplay to the next stage.\nThis position will own the player experience, including controls, movement, combat, abilities and moment-to-moment gameplay. You’ll shape how the game feels to play, taking ideas from concept through to implementation and iterating quickly through hands-on testing and feedback.\nCore Responsibilities\nOwn the design and feel of the player experience, including controls, movement, spellcasting combat, abilities and moment-to-moment gameplay.\nDesign, prototype and iterate on player and magic combat systems, taking ideas from concept through to playable implementation.\nBuild and iterate directly in Unreal Engine 5 using Blueprints, creating and tuning gameplay systems and prototypes hands-on.\nEstablish responsive, satisfying gameplay feel, using hands-on testing and iteration to quickly identify and solve issues.\nWork closely within a small dev team to ensure the player experience and wider game systems work together cohesively.\nRequirements\nSkills and experience we're looking for\n2+ years of relevant game development experience, or equivalent demonstrable experience.\nStrong, demonstrable hands-on Unreal Engine 5 and Blueprint skills.\nProficient with Git and GitHub, including branching, pull requests, resolving merge conflicts and collaborating effectively on an Unreal Engine project.\nExperience rapidly prototyping action combat, magic, weapons and ability systems.\nExperience designing and implementing player movement, camera, targeting and input.\nStrong understanding of combat timing, responsiveness, feedback, readability and player choice.\nExperience owning gameplay features from initial design through implementation, playtesting and iteration.\nAbility to work independently and deliver playable iterations on a short development schedule.\nComfortable working with placeholder assets and finding pragmatic solutions for rapid prototyping.\nA portfolio or reel demonstrating combat and gameplay systems, with your individual contribution clearly identified.\nBonus points if you have\nC++ literacy or experience\nExperience developing action RPGs, character-action games, or magic games\nWe don’t expect anyone to match every line. If the role excites you and you can demonstrate strong relevant experience, we’d love to hear from you\nBenefits\nWhat working with us looks like\nFully remote, anywhere in the UK\nFlexible working hours\nA hands on prototype where your work has a visible impact\n4 month fixed term contract employment through Cross Key Games Ltd\nPension and statutory employment entitlements provided in line with your contract and UK requirements\nHow to apply\nSubmit your application and CV through the link below and, where relevant, a link to your portfolio.\nYour set-up\nYou'll need your own PC capable of running Unreal Engine 5 and a reliable high speed internet connection.\nRight to work\nThis role is open to candidates who already have the unrestricted right to work in the UK for the full duration of the contract. Cross Key Games is a newly launched small studio and we are not able to sponsor visas or fund immigration costs. You will also need to be based in the UK and working from the UK throughout.\nWe ask every candidate to confirm this at application and we do this for everyone, regardless of where they are from.","description_format":"text","description_chars":4045,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Flexible schedule"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-19T08:34:54Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":65,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.721,"p_room":0.9,"age_days":15,"expected_fill_days":27,"reasons":["conf:2","win:mid"],"computed_at":"2026-10-21T05:46:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":46653,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/crosskeygames-experienced-technical-designer-player-combat","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/crosskeygames-experienced-technical-designer-player-combat.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-22T03:13:13Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":2928,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-23T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":4448710},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=4448710"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fcrosskeygames-experienced-technical-designer-player-combat"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fcrosskeygames-experienced-technical-designer-player-combat"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fcrosskeygames-experienced-technical-designer-player-combat"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/crosskeygames-experienced-technical-designer-player-combat\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fcrosskeygames-experienced-technical-designer-player-combat"}]}