Lead Game Designer

Based in the heart of Leamington Spa, Pixel Toys have spent over a decade pushing the capabilities of mobile and VR gaming. We have developed multiple award-winning titles, including: Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade, Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realm War; and we’re now excited to be exclusively working on a new game, unlike ANYTHING we’ve done previously! As a forward thinking and innovative studio we are always looking for new technologies and techniques to develop and use in our games and make them even more engaging experiences for our customers. We are excited to continue to grow our team and are always on the lookout for highly talented and motivated individuals, who are passionate about gaming and excited to join us on our ambitious journey!

The Role:

Join us and play a key role in shaping the future of the game, driving features that keep players engaged, strengthen long-term retention, and move the product forward. This is your opportunity to help translate the Game Director's vision into systems and experiences that feel authentic, intuitive, rewarding, and sustainable in a live F2P (Free-to-Play) game. As a Lead Game Designer, you’ll drive the design and evolution of key features from concept through to live operation on a live midcore mobile RPG. Turn product goals into clear systems, feature scopes, and player-facing experiences that work both creatively and commercially. You’ll work closely with the Game Director and pod leadership to shape priorities and solve problems as they emerge. A big part of the role is representing the product vision within the team and making thoughtful calls that balance player value, production realities, and long-term game health.

Day-to-day, you’ll collaborate with engineering, UX, art, audio, and QA to bring features to life, making sure designs are well-defined, practical to implement, and delivered to a high standard. You’ll also work closely with product, analytics, and live ops to make sure features launch smoothly, perform well in the live game, and deliver real value for both players and the business. Beyond the features you lead, we expect Lead designers to raise the bar for the wider game. That might mean helping other teams refine their ideas, spotting opportunities to improve the player journey, or pitching quality-of-life improvements that make the game stronger overall. You’ll also keep a close eye on the market and on how players interact with the game. Learning from other titles, player behaviour, and live data will help you validate ideas and evolve features over time. Once features are live, you’ll track how they perform, respond to player feedback, and iterate quickly to keep improving the experience.

About you:

You’re a strong communicator who can explain design solutions clearly, whether discussing high-level goals or detailed system behaviour. You’re also comfortable working across disciplines, helping teams align on feature scope, priorities, and implementation details while keeping design specifications clear and practical. Bringing a deep understanding of mobile games and player behaviour, backed by strong system design skills, you will be someone that enjoys solving complex design problems and turning product goals into engaging systems that deliver meaningful player experiences. You'll join us with experience in designing metagame and progression systems, along with a solid understanding on how well-balanced content supports both the player experience and the game’s economy. You’ll also be comfortable working with data, tuning systems, and using player insight to guide design decisions. With a keen eye able to spot trends across the mobile market, you learn what works and what doesn't from leading games and are passionate about bringing new ideas that strengthen the product. On top of this, you will bring a positive energy and a level of leadership to the team. You’re proactive, collaborative, and motivated to raise the quality of the game and the people around you, helping the team deliver the best experience possible for players.

Other desired experience includes:

• Experience designing systems for midcore mobile games, ideally RPGs
• Strong understanding of live ops design, progression systems, and long-term engagement
• Strong understanding of F2P economy design, monetisation loops, and product KPIs
• Experience driving features from concept through implementation and live operation
• Ability to translate product goals into clear, actionable feature designs
• Comfortable collaborating across engineering, UX/UI, art, audio, and production
• Strong awareness of the mobile games market and competitive landscape
• Good understanding of UI/UX principles and player-centered design
• Experience mentoring designers or helping guide feature teams, with the potential to step into formal leadership
• Experience working with game engines such as Unity is also a bonus

What can Pixel Toys offer:

At Pixel Toys we are proud of the progressive, inclusive, and collaborative working environment we have created; a place where everyone has the opportunity to be themselves and is welcomed and valued for who they are and what they contribute. We have some fantastic benefits we offer our employees… Here are just some of them:

• Competitive salary, reviewed annually
• 25 days annual leave, excluding bank holidays
• Discretionary Bonus Scheme
• Up to 3 additional long service days (duvet days!)
• Private Medical Insurance (including optical and dental)
• Company Pension scheme
• Death in Service benefit
• Regular socials including epic summer and Christmas parties!
• Staff training and development
• Quarterly Wellness days (On-site massages and more)
• Flexi-time working hours

Recruitment selection is based on skills, experience and a good Pixel Toys mission and values fit.