Senior Gameplay Engineer

About the Hiring Team

Welcome to Lightspeed LA, the first U.S.

-based AAA game development studio for Tencent Games. Lightspeed LA focuses on building open‑world games that emphasize an ambitious living world, sophisticated player‑driven gameplay, and mature, thoughtful storytelling. We are developing the first in a series of genre‑defining titles.

• We encourage the showing of work that is still in progress.
• We do not attack or question unfinished work; we celebrate its promise.
• We have a No‑Blame Culture – we blame the problem, not the person.
• This is a safe place to fail, and we view failure as a natural result of pushing boundaries and trying new things.
• We create together, face challenges together, and succeed together.

Lightspeed LA is seeking a talented and enthusiastic senior gameplay engineer to join our new studio in Irvine, California. The ideal candidate will have a strong passion for games and for solving ambitious technical and creative problems. Join us and help build a team and culture of mutual respect and passion while having lots of fun.

• Design, implement, and support quality gameplay systems and tools.
• Collaborate directly and proactively with engineers, designers, artists, and QA to explore and identify needs and opportunities.
• Cultivate strong cross‑disciplinary working relationships based on honesty and transparency.
• Author lean, high‑performance, maintainable code.
• Actively profile and optimize the game's codebase.
• Participate in the testing and documentation of game systems and tools.
• Mentor, develop, and learn from colleagues.
• Help build and maintain an open and energetic team culture.

Passion and enthusiasm for creating fun and engaging gameplay through iteration and innovation.

• 5+ years of professional game programming experience.
• Experience bringing a large‑scale game title to completion on PC and consoles.
• Expert in C++, debugging, and 3D math.
• Enjoy working closely with creative and technical team members.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Value lean, simple, efficient, well‑tested code.

• Experience working on AAA proprietary engines or third‑party engines such as Unreal or Unity.
• Experience with game console hardware.
• Understanding of game asset pipelines.
• Deep knowledge of animation, physics, AI, and/or networking.

State(s): US‑California‑Irvine

The expected base pay range for this position in the listed location is $116,200 to $269,100 per year. Actual pay may vary depending on job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience.

• Pay‑on payment, relocation package, and restricted stock units (evaluated on a case‑by‑case basis).
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability benefits.
• Participation in the company’s 401(k) plan.
• Up to 15‑25 days of vacation per year (depending on tenure).
• Up to 13 days of holidays throughout the calendar year.
• Up to 10 days of paid sick leave per year.
• Benefits may be adjusted to reflect location, employment status, duration of employment, and position level, and may be pro‑rated for employees who start during the calendar year.

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 feels supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals.