Principal Gameplay Programmer

overview

come join bethesda game studios
, the award-winning development team behind starfield
, the elder scrolls and fallout
. Bethesda game studios strives to offer its employees a well-balanced home and work life by providing competitive salaries, a generous benefits program, and offices located in some of north america’s best cities.

with a goal of creating a culture as fun and diverse as our games and our players, we welcome applicants with unique skillsets, experience levels and backgrounds. If you are passionate about making a meaningful contribution to some of the most significant games in the industry we’d love to hear from you!

we will consider candidates for any of our four bethesda game studios office locations: rockville, md; montreal, quebec; austin, tx; dallas, tx.

your daily life at bethesda game studios

bethesda game studios is seeking a principal gameplay programmer who can design, implement, and maintain gameplay systems for fallout 76. This role involves guiding and implementing our marquee and most complex gameplay features for fallout 76.

in your role as principal gameplay programmer …

• you will easily dive in and become familiar with the game systems in our client/server engine
• you will implement, guide, and review game systems for fallout 76
• you will work closely with designers, artists, and other programmers to iterate on gameplay features and ensure a great player experience
• you will take ownership of and help shape the overall game experience, extending beyond programming responsibilities
• you will own at least one major technology and/or game system in fallout 76
• you will solve the more difficult bugs, problems, architectural dilemmas, or optimization issues
• you will be a leader in shaping programming policies and exploring new technologies and processes, especially in areas where others may face challenges
• you will help guide the direction of gameplay features and suggest options and alternatives that will improve the product
• you will code review and mentor more junior team members
• you will manage your time effectively with little to no guidance and prioritize work based on roi and risk

what makes you s.p.e.c.i.a.l.

• you have 10 + years' experience programming, with most of it in aaa games and gameplay programming in c++
• you have a b.s. (or higher) in computer science, or equivalent work experience.
• you have expert experience in networking game features and awareness of the complexities of networked gameplay (replication of state, behaviors, physics, client/server breakdown of features and game systems)
• you have owned major systems and features including such things as combat, movement, camera, player progression, crafting/building, player stats, player creation and loadout, quests, events, repeatable missions, systematic content, player input, dialogue, companion/npc/ai, and ui.
• you are an expert in programming game systems in an asynchronous environment whether that be threaded, across frames, or across processes via a network.
• you have been part of creating and launching a aaa title from beginning to end
• you have significant experience with service-based games
• you have significant experience in in securing multiplayer systems from bad actors as well as experience in detecting them
• you have been responsible for coding and/or reviewing the code for most of the skills (what makes you extra s.p.e.c.i.a.l. Listed below)
• you have significant experience working in a linux based environment including basic system administration and performance management
• you have familiarity with cloud architecture in aws and azure and devops principles

what makes you extra s.p.e.c.i.a.l.

programming

• expert computer science fundamentals including design patterns, algorithms and algorithmic complexity, memory management, state/object management, compilation, execution, and asynchronous processing and how all these apply to game systems in c++
• expert understanding of oo principles including application of composition vs inheritance as well as solid principles as it applies to game systems in c++
• expertise in async programming principles and networked applications

gameplay…