Principal Gameplay Engineer (Networking)

About Bad Robot Games

Founded by Bad Robot (Lost, Cloverfield, Westworld, Star Wars, Star Trek), we are on a mission to continually reinvent how stories are played. We are a remote-first games company represented by a diverse team, which empowers us to make the kinds of games in which all players can see themselves. Working closely with our colleagues at Bad Robot Productions, our projects unite our extensive network of games, TV, and film industry talent to create original IPs, expansive worlds and tell new stories across all media platforms which are as fun to watch as they are to play.

Role Overview

Bad Robot Games is looking for a Principal Gameplay Engineer who lives and breathes multiplayer. This role is squarely focused on the networking layer, the systems that keep players in sync, minimize latency, and make online play feel seamless and fair. You'll be a technical anchor for the team, solving hard distributed systems problems, and helping other engineers grow their networking chops. If you get excited about replication graphs, rollback, and the challenge of making a game feel great at whatever ping, we want to talk.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect, implement, modify, and maintain networking and gameplay systems with long term stability and scalability in mind
• Design and own core networking pipelines including replication, prediction, and lag compensation systems in close collaboration with designers and engineers
• Prototype and iterate rapidly on features, embracing critical feedback and applying it constructively
• Advocate for quality, stability, performance, and appropriate prioritization across the project
• Coordinate efforts across products to encourage code and feature sharing
• Bring technical excellence across multiple features and platforms, optimizing and fixing bugs in existing networking and gameplay systems
• Collaborate with design, art, audio, and production to problem-solve and generate new ideas
• Proactively identify opportunities and challenges before they become blockers
• Participate in playtesting and provide hands on feedback as the project progresses

Key Qualifications

• 10+ years of game development experience in an engineering role, with a significant network engineering focus
• Networking experience on at least one Unreal multiplayer title (ideally multiple) on PC and console
• Strong C++ skills with the ability to architect gameplay mechanics, networking systems, and tools
• Proficiency with multiple areas of Unreal Engine's networking tech stack, including: Actor Replication, RPCs, NetSerialize, Network Prediction Plugin, Gameplay Ability System networking, Push Model replication, and Iris
• Solid understanding of Unreal’s listen server architecture, focusing on making excellent client hosted co-op systems
• Experience implementing various latency compensation methods, including rollback, lag compensation, and interpolation
• Deep understanding of the distinction between server and client roles within Unreal's network model
• Comfortable with the tradeoffs between bandwidth, CPU cost, and fidelity in networked game state, with an understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of each approach
• Deep familiarity with the pipelines, tools, and processes of creating, building, shipping, and supporting live games
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a track record of inspiring teams
• A passion for multiplayer online gaming and a rich history of playing across a wide variety of game genres

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience with Unreal's Network Prediction Plugin or similar rollback networking frameworks
• Procedural or data-driven approaches to networked game state management
• Experience developing or maintaining custom net drivers or network middleware in Unreal
• Knowledge of or experience with Unreal's Iris replication system
• Experience implementing multiplayer lobbies, matchmaking, and session management systems