Principal Game Designer (Genre Specialist)

This role sits within the GRC (Game Research Center) team. Its core mission is a highly authoritative game design leader with extensive hands-on development experience across global shooter, casual competitive and RPG game genres. We are looking for a true genre expert who can help define the next generation of gameplay standards. This individual will provide Tencent’s overseas portfolio with stronger strategic direction on product design trends, solve critical design challenges in active development, and identify opportunities for the next evergreen game franchise.

Key Responsibilities

• Gameplay and Systems Design
  • Define and refine best-in-class minute-to-minute gameplay experience, including controls, movement, and player feedback across visual, audio, and haptic layers.
  • Build scalable and deeply engaging gameplay systems, including combat systems, character control, level interaction, mission flow, progression systems, and long-term engagement loops.
  • Lead the design evaluation and strategic improvement of core gameplay pillars, including 3C, combat/system design, level design, mission structure, world interaction, and player progression.
  • Ensure systems are accessible, strategically deep, highly replayable, and fun over the long term.
• Genre Expertise and Design Benchmarking
  • Analyze leading global games in global shooter, casual competitive and RPG game genres, and turn those insights into reusable design frameworks.
  • Set high-quality design benchmarks for core projects, including 3C, system interaction, and world exploration pacing.
• Project Support and Evaluation
  • Work directly with project teams to solve critical design problems, especially in GaaS systems, gameplay innovation, and economy balance.
  • Review prototypes and milestone builds to ensure projects are both fun and distinctive in the global market.
  • Provide hands-on design consultation to teams in development, with particular focus on high-priority shooter-related challenges, while also supporting selected opportunities in innovative casual and RPG projects.
  • Help identify genre opportunities, product risks, and improvement areas early through expert review, structured feedback, and design modeling.
• Industry Leadership
  • Represent the company through thought leadership at industry events such as GDC, Devcom, and similar conferences.
  • Use your industry reputation and network to connect with top global design talent and strengthen Tencent’s influence in game development.

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in game design, with at least the past 5 years spent as a lead designer or core systems owner on globally recognized large-scale game projects.
• Proven success in at least two of the following areas:
• Shooter games, with strong practical experience in level design, 3C, combat design, and/or gameplay systems design.
• Casual competitive games, especially products involving creative sandbox, party royale, social-creative, or AI-enhanced gameplay experiences.
• RPG games, with strong experience in narrative design, world-building, and/or quest design.
• Experience working on major global IPs or well-known live game franchises.
• Strong industry recognition, ideally demonstrated through thought leadership and speaking engagements at major industry conferences or forums.

Core Skills

• Strong ability to design systems from the ground up that support long-term player engagement.
• Deep understanding of gameplay loops such as combat, progression, mission structure, exploration, social interaction, player creativity, and long-term retention.
• Strong expertise in 3C feel, including responsiveness, combat impact, camera, and audiovisual feedback.
• Strong understanding of hardcore players, competitive fairness, and player communities.

Soft Skills

• Fluent English, with the ability to work effectively with global development teams.
• Strong structured thinking: able to turn creative ideas into clear design documents and system models.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with a practical and supportive approach.

Equal Employment Opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, we firmly believe that diverse voices fuel our innovation and allow us to better serve our users and the community. We foster an environment where every employee of Tencent feels supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals.