---
title: 'Staff Gameplay Designer - Social (Contract) at teamLFG'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-gameplay-designer-social-contract-teamlfg-united-states-9nvhqy33k0h8'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Staff Gameplay Designer - Social (Contract) at teamLFG

- **Company:** teamLFG
- **Location:** United States
- **Compensation:** $76–$115/hr
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2026-05-29
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/teamlfg/jobs/6000510004

## Job description

Are you on a mission to create games that bond players together into deeply invested communities? Do you spend your time thinking about how different game mechanics can come together to create emergent, dynamic, and frankly hilarious social moments? Are you excited to make gameplay that strongly cares about player intention, action game feel, and expressive communication?

We are seeking a highly technical, creative, and team-oriented contract Staff Gameplay Designer to contribute a new multiplayer action game on teamLFG. You will work closely with the entire Design Team prototyping, exploring, and implementing player avatars and their suite of verbs for the social area of a competitive PvP game. You will collaborate with team members from other disciplines to drive cohesive gameplay vision. You will help build the systems that enable our game to become a third place. Most importantly, you will work with a fun, dedicated, and cross-disciplinary team devoted to turning a creative dream into a new franchise at PlayStation.

## RESPONSIBILITIES

- Build and maintain the avatar movement and core sandbox systems that enable cooperative social gameplay and player expression, while building trust between players
- Build the systems to allow for avatar customization, creating extensible opportunities for player investment and a progression economy, as well as player self expression and customization
- Build compelling gameplay experiences through reusable sandbox mechanics, especially 3C (Character, Camera and Controls) design and implementation
- Create endearing NPCs that improve IP quality, consistency, along with sandbox design principles
- Work with audio, effects, and animation to clearly communicate gameplay affordances to players

## REQUIRED SKILLS

- Understanding of how modern multiplayer social games can leverage an intuitive and expressive action sandbox to create memories between players
- Fluency for collaboration with designers, artists, programmers, audio professionals, quality assurance and producers to achieve a common goal, with adaptability for how to work in a flexible work environment
- Broad T-shaped rapid prototyping skills, with enough multi-disciplinary knowledge to quickly stub out gameplay ideas to evaluate their potential
- Strong technical scripting skills and understanding of how to structure game design tools to unlock player expression, content variety, and execution speed
- Strong understanding of character motion and animation; momentum, timing, and their impact on player communication and tone
- Proven ability to build alignment and productively own feature direction without sacrificing empathy and collaboration with team contributors
- Ability to operate autonomously and handle ambiguity, including giving and receiving feedback despite that ambiguity
- Ability to create plans and evaluate them for meeting the experiential needs of the players and markets
- Outstanding oral and written communication skills
- Demonstrated understanding of how systemically consistent, combinatoric game design can create player surprise and laughter

## PREFERRED EXPERIENCE

- Experience as a Staff Sandbox/Gameplay Designer on AAA or large-scale online action games, designing, documenting, and building character customization systems
- Experience delegating work or ownership of an area to multi-disciplinary peers
- Experience with social/cooperative game design and balancing for an active player base At SIE, working with our partners, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.

Please note that the individual base pay range may vary based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.

In addition, this role is eligible for benefit offerings that include medical, dental, and vision. Click [here](https://www.dzconnex.com/summary-of-benefits) to learn more.

The estimated base pay range for this role is listed below, this is an hourly rate. $76—$115 USD

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

Please refer to our[Candidate Privacy Notice](https://www.playstation.com/legal/careers-privacy-notice/) for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.

## About teamLFG

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: A new PlayStation Studios game developer focused on creating team-based action games in richly social multiplayer worlds where players can find friendship, community, and belonging.
- **Entity Type**: Public (subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment, a division of Sony Group Corporation, Ticker: SONY)
- **Headquarters**: Bellevue, Washington, United States
- **Founded**: 2025
- **Founders**: The studio originated at Bungie as an internal incubation project before spinning out; specific founders are not publicly named, though the studio is led by Zach Russell (Studio Head) [playstation.com](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/corporate/playstation-studios/teamlfg/)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Video Game Development / Entertainment
- **Target customers**: B2C — gamers and online multiplayer communities
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "To create games where players can find friendship, community, and belonging." [blog.playstation.com](https://blog.playstation.com/2025/05/07/welcome-teamlfg-to-the-playstation-studios-family/)

## Products & Services
- **Untitled Team-Based Action Game**: The studio's first project is a team-based action game set in a lighthearted, comedic, mythic science-fantasy universe. The game draws inspiration from fighting games, platformers, MOBAs, life sims, and "frog-type games." It will be a live-service multiplayer title built with community feedback through early access playtests. [blog.playstation.com](https://blog.playstation.com/2025/05/07/welcome-teamlfg-to-the-playstation-studios-family/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- **Key Metric**: Total headcount of approximately 37 employees as of mid-2026, with 46.9% year-over-year growth [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/teamlfg)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Sony Interactive Entertainment / PlayStation Studios (parent); Hermen Hulst (CEO, Studio Business Group, Sony Interactive Entertainment) announced the studio's formation [blog.playstation.com](https://blog.playstation.com/2025/05/07/welcome-teamlfg-to-the-playstation-studios-family/)
- **Growth Signals**: Rapid hiring with 16 active job postings; quarterly job posting growth of 433.3%; talent sourced from major studios including Bungie (29 hires), Blizzard Entertainment (3), Riot Games, Naughty Dog, Respawn Entertainment, and Electronic Arts [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/teamlfg)

## Competitive Advantages
- **AAA Backing with Startup Agility**: As a first-party PlayStation Studios member, teamLFG has the resources and brand support of Sony while operating as a nimble, independent-minded studio.
- **Talent Density**: The team combines veterans who shipped Destiny, Halo, League of Legends, Fortnite, Roblox, and Rec Room with fresh industry newcomers, creating a blend of deep expertise and new perspectives.
- **Unique Design Philosophy**: The studio is building a game that intentionally merges genres (fighting games, platformers, MOBAs, life sims) into something new, targeting a "cozy but competitive" social multiplayer niche.
- **Community-First Development**: The studio plans to involve players early through early access playtests and iterate based on feedback throughout live service — a model that can build strong, loyal communities.

## Strategic Focus
- **First Game Development**: The primary strategic priority is shipping the untitled team-based action game, which is described as an "ambitious incubation project" by PlayStation Studios leadership.
- **Live-Service Commitment**: The studio is explicitly building for long-term live service, intending to grow the game and community "for years to come" post-launch.
- **Talent Expansion**: With 16 open roles and rapid headcount growth, the studio is actively scaling its team across engineering, design, art, audio, and production disciplines.
- **Remote-First Hybrid Model**: The studio supports employees working both on-site (Bellevue, WA) and remotely across the U.S. and Canada, enabling access to a broad talent pool.

## Why Work Here
- **Prestige + Autonomy**: Join a brand-new first-party PlayStation studio with the creative freedom of a startup and the stability of Sony — a rare combination in games.
- **Mission-Driven Culture**: The studio's core purpose — creating games that foster friendship and belonging — is deeply embedded in how they work and what they build.
- **High-Impact Roles**: With ~37 people and aggressive growth, new hires will have outsized influence on the studio's culture, technology, and first game.
- **Remote-Friendly**: The studio offers a hybrid workspace with many remote roles available across the U.S. and Canada [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/teamlfg)
- **Veteran Leadership**: Work alongside industry leaders from Bungie, Riot, Blizzard, and Epic who have shipped some of the biggest games in the world.
- **Tech Stack**: Engineers will work with Unreal Engine, Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform, Python, Ansible, and modern cloud infrastructure [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/teamlfg)
- **Active Hiring**: As of mid-2026, the studio is hiring for roles including Senior Gameplay Engineer, Staff Services Engineer, Audio Director, Game Engineering Director, and Principal Progression Economy Designer [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/teamlfg)

## Sources
1. [playstation.com](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/corporate/playstation-studios/teamlfg/)
2. [blog.playstation.com](https://blog.playstation.com/2025/05/07/welcome-teamlfg-to-the-playstation-studios-family/)
3. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/teamlfg)
4. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/teamlfg)
5. [gamesindustry.biz](https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sony-playstation-establishes-new-studio-teamlfg-to-work-on-an-ambitious-incubation-project)

## Other roles at teamLFG

- [Senior Gameplay Designer (Combat & AI)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-gameplay-designer-combat-ai-teamlfg-united-states-9f3xzvxn3e5r) — United States
- [Senior UX/UI Design Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-ux-ui-design-lead-teamlfg-united-states-xfjnqefrj908) — United States
- [Senior Game Engineer - Graphics](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-game-engineer-graphics-teamlfg-united-states-j5q37yzxd0g4) — United States
- [Staff Investment Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-investment-engineer-teamlfg-united-states-vp5ht5tstpn2) — United States
- [Senior Engineer - Build Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-engineer-build-systems-teamlfg-united-states-m0hfc2k72d20) — United States
- [Senior Game Services Engineering Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-game-services-engineering-lead-teamlfg-united-states-egcnv1kds148) — United States
- [Game Engineering Director](https://feeny.ai/job/game-engineering-director-teamlfg-united-states-86vcencqc632) — United States
- [Staff Services Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-services-engineer-teamlfg-united-states-g8kk1shv16z2) — United States
- [Tech Art Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/tech-art-lead-teamlfg-united-states-x15mckhamnph) — United States