Principal Game Designer (RPG)

What are you working on? Genres: Role-playing For which tasks (responsibilities)? Renderer Studios is a full-cycle game art outsourcing and co-development company with a global production network and a European commercial base. We partner with developers and publishers worldwide to bring ambitious projects to life — from art production and technical art to full co-development. What kind of professional are we looking for? We are starting production on an unannounced RPG project and are looking for a Principal Game Designer to own its design vision from the very beginning. This is a key stakeholder role, not a feature-owner seat. You will define the initial vision of the game, defend it through production, and be accountable for how the game plays in players' hands. You join before the game is set in stone — the core pillars, systems, and combat model will carry your signature. What is important for us in a person? What You Will Do Own and articulate the initial creative and design vision — core pillars, target experience, and the design language of the game Act as a key stakeholder in the project: represent design in leadership decisions, scope discussions, and milestone reviews alongside production, art direction, and external partners Design and document core RPG systems: party and character progression, exploration, itemization, and encounter structure Lead the evaluation and prototyping of combat approaches — both real-time and turn-based models are on the table — and drive the final decision with prototypes and playtest data Establish the testing and balancing methodology: playtest cadence, telemetry needs, difficulty tuning, and encounter balance across the full game Build, mentor, and review the work of the wider design team as the project scales Write clear, buildable design documentation for a distributed development team What We Are Looking For Shipped experience designing RPG video games — this is a hard requirement. You have been a designer of record on released RPG titles, not adjacent genres Hands-on design experience with both turn-based and real-time RPG combat/systems (across one or multiple shipped projects) 5+ years in game design, with at least 2–3 years at Lead/Principal level owning a game-wide design vision Deep, genuine understanding of old-school RPGs — CRPGs and party-based games of the 80s/90s — and equally sharp fluency in what modern RPG players expect: onboarding, readability, quality-of-life, difficulty design Proven track record of balancing complex systems: you can explain your methodology, your tools, and your failures Excellent written design communication in English (B2+); experience working with remote/distributed teams A stakeholder mindset: comfortable owning decisions, presenting to leadership and external partners, and being accountable for outcomes Nice to Have Dedicated combat design experience — shipped work as a combat designer or owner of a combat system (strong plus) Experience adapting tabletop RPG rulesets into video game systems Tabletop RPG experience (as a GM/designer) as a foundation for encounter and emergent-narrative design Experience working on licensed IP or within an existing canon, including approval loops with IP holders Experience with Unreal Engine and design prototyping in-engine Experience defining telemetry/analytics requirements for balance work Why do we enjoy working here? We Offer A rare opportunity to be the design authority on an ambitious RPG from its earliest stage Direct influence on the project's vision, systems, and combat model Fully remote work with a flexible schedule and an international team Competitive compensation, negotiable based on experience Minimum bureaucracy and a great working environment