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Lead Gameplay Engineer

Tencent

Engineering Jobs

Lead Gameplay Engineer

full-timePosted: Oct 22, 2025

Job Description

Lead Gameplay Engineer

📋 Job Overview

Lightspeed LA, Tencent's first U.S.-based AAA game development studio, is seeking a Lead Gameplay Engineer to guide the creation of innovative open-world games featuring sophisticated player-driven gameplay and mature storytelling. The role involves leading a gameplay engineering team, implementing high-performance systems in C/C++, and fostering a collaborative, no-blame culture. This position offers the chance to work on genre-defining titles in a supportive environment that values iteration, transparency, and professional growth.

📍 Location: Irvine, California, United States

🏢 Business Unit: IEG

📄 Full Description

About the Hiring Team
Welcome to Lightspeed LA, the first U.S.-based, AAA game development studio for Tencent Games. Lightspeed LA is focused 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.
Why join Lightspeed LA?
For us, it's not only about the exciting, new AAA open world game we're developing but also about team values and studio culture. We foster an open and transparent environment where everyone feels comfortable providing constructive feedback about all aspects of our games.
● We encourage the showing of work that's still in progress.
● We don't attack or question unfinished work, we celebrate its promise.
● We have a No Blame Culture where we blame the problem, not the person.
This is a safe place to fail, and we don't view failure as a negative, but as the natural result of pushing boundaries and trying new things. We create together. We face Challenges Together. We succeed together.

What the Role Entails
Work with and lead a gameplay engineering team to craft development of innovative gameplay content systems and experiences
Work with design and production and engineering leadership to manage the gameplay schedule and backlog
Implement, debug and optimize gameplay systems in C/C++ and other languages
Author lean, high-performance, maintainable code
Cultivate strong cross-disciplinary working relationships based on honesty and transparency among various departments within the studio
Leadership and Management:Provide technical leadership across multiple gameplay systems and features
Mentor, develop, and learn from engineering colleagues
Be a leadership resource for engineers across the entire gameplay team
Help build and maintain an open and energetic team culture
Conduct regular one-on-one meetings with team members to provide guidance, feedback, and support their professional development
Participate in the recruitment and onboarding of new team members, ensuring a diverse and skilled team that aligns with project requirements
Facilitate team-building activities to promote a positive and collaborative working environment

Who We Look For
Experience working in Unreal Engine
Passion and enthusiasm for creating fun and engaging gameplay through iteration and innovation
Experience bringing multiple large-scale game titles to completion on PC and consoles
7+ years of professional game programming experience
Experience managing direct reports
Experience performing in a senior or principal software engineering role or equivalent
Ability to collaborate with other engineers, designers, artists and other game developers
Ability to work well in a fluid, changing environment as creative challenges evolve
Deep knowledge of gameplay systems involving AI, animation, physics, and character-related systems from engine to game
Expert in C++, debugging, and 3D mathematics
Enjoy working closely with creative and technical team members
Value lean, simple, efficient, well-tested code
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Preferred:Experience with game console hardware
Understanding of game asset pipelines

Why Join Us?
Location State(s)
US-California-Irvine
The expected base pay range for this position in the location(s) listed above is $116,200.00 to $343,600.00 per year. Actual pay may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.
Employees hired for this position may be eligible for a sign on payment, relocation package, and restricted stock units, which will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Subject to the terms and conditions of the plans in effect, hired applicants are also eligible for medical, dental, vision, life and disability benefits, and participation in the Company’s 401(k) plan. The Employee is also eligible for up to 15 to 25 days of vacation per year (depending on the employee’s tenure), up to 13 days of holidays throughout the calendar year, and up to 10 days of paid sick leave per year.
Your benefits may be adjusted to reflect your location, employment status, duration of employment with the company, and position level. Benefits may also be pro-rated for those who start working during the calendar year.

Equal Employment Opportunity at Tencent
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 of Tencent feels supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals.
Work Location: US-California-Irvine

🎯 Key Responsibilities

  • Work with and lead a gameplay engineering team to craft development of innovative gameplay content systems and experiences
  • Work with design and production and engineering leadership to manage the gameplay schedule and backlog
  • Implement, debug and optimize gameplay systems in C/C++ and other languages
  • Author lean, high-performance, maintainable code
  • Cultivate strong cross-disciplinary working relationships based on honesty and transparency among various departments within the studio
  • Provide technical leadership across multiple gameplay systems and features
  • Mentor, develop, and learn from engineering colleagues
  • Be a leadership resource for engineers across the entire gameplay team
  • Help build and maintain an open and energetic team culture
  • Conduct regular one-on-one meetings with team members to provide guidance, feedback, and support their professional development
  • Participate in the recruitment and onboarding of new team members, ensuring a diverse and skilled team that aligns with project requirements
  • Facilitate team-building activities to promote a positive and collaborative working environment

✅ Required Qualifications

  • Experience working in Unreal Engine
  • Passion and enthusiasm for creating fun and engaging gameplay through iteration and innovation
  • Experience bringing multiple large-scale game titles to completion on PC and consoles
  • 7+ years of professional game programming experience
  • Experience managing direct reports
  • Experience performing in a senior or principal software engineering role or equivalent
  • Ability to collaborate with other engineers, designers, artists and other game developers
  • Ability to work well in a fluid, changing environment as creative challenges evolve
  • Deep knowledge of gameplay systems involving AI, animation, physics, and character-related systems from engine to game
  • Expert in C++, debugging, and 3D mathematics
  • Enjoy working closely with creative and technical team members
  • Value lean, simple, efficient, well-tested code
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills

⭐ Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience with game console hardware
  • Understanding of game asset pipelines

🛠️ Required Skills

  • Unreal Engine
  • C/C++ programming
  • Debugging
  • 3D mathematics
  • Gameplay systems (AI, animation, physics, character-related)
  • Leadership and management
  • Mentoring and team development
  • Cross-disciplinary collaboration
  • Strong written and verbal communication
  • Writing lean, high-performance, maintainable code

🎁 Benefits

  • Competitive base pay range of $116,200.00 to $343,600.00 per year
  • Potential sign-on payment
  • Relocation package
  • Restricted stock units
  • Medical, dental, vision, life and disability benefits
  • Participation in 401(k) plan
  • 15 to 25 days of vacation per year (depending on tenure)
  • Up to 13 days of holidays per year
  • Up to 10 days of paid sick leave per year

Locations

  • Irvine, California, United States

Salary

116,200 - 343,600 USD / yearly

Skills Required

  • Unreal Engineintermediate
  • C/C++ programmingintermediate
  • Debuggingintermediate
  • 3D mathematicsintermediate
  • Gameplay systems (AI, animation, physics, character-related)intermediate
  • Leadership and managementintermediate
  • Mentoring and team developmentintermediate
  • Cross-disciplinary collaborationintermediate
  • Strong written and verbal communicationintermediate
  • Writing lean, high-performance, maintainable codeintermediate

Required Qualifications

  • Experience working in Unreal Engine (experience)
  • Passion and enthusiasm for creating fun and engaging gameplay through iteration and innovation (experience)
  • Experience bringing multiple large-scale game titles to completion on PC and consoles (experience)
  • 7+ years of professional game programming experience (experience)
  • Experience managing direct reports (experience)
  • Experience performing in a senior or principal software engineering role or equivalent (experience)
  • Ability to collaborate with other engineers, designers, artists and other game developers (experience)
  • Ability to work well in a fluid, changing environment as creative challenges evolve (experience)
  • Deep knowledge of gameplay systems involving AI, animation, physics, and character-related systems from engine to game (experience)
  • Expert in C++, debugging, and 3D mathematics (experience)
  • Enjoy working closely with creative and technical team members (experience)
  • Value lean, simple, efficient, well-tested code (experience)
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills (experience)

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience with game console hardware (experience)
  • Understanding of game asset pipelines (experience)

Responsibilities

  • Work with and lead a gameplay engineering team to craft development of innovative gameplay content systems and experiences
  • Work with design and production and engineering leadership to manage the gameplay schedule and backlog
  • Implement, debug and optimize gameplay systems in C/C++ and other languages
  • Author lean, high-performance, maintainable code
  • Cultivate strong cross-disciplinary working relationships based on honesty and transparency among various departments within the studio
  • Provide technical leadership across multiple gameplay systems and features
  • Mentor, develop, and learn from engineering colleagues
  • Be a leadership resource for engineers across the entire gameplay team
  • Help build and maintain an open and energetic team culture
  • Conduct regular one-on-one meetings with team members to provide guidance, feedback, and support their professional development
  • Participate in the recruitment and onboarding of new team members, ensuring a diverse and skilled team that aligns with project requirements
  • Facilitate team-building activities to promote a positive and collaborative working environment

Benefits

  • general: Competitive base pay range of $116,200.00 to $343,600.00 per year
  • general: Potential sign-on payment
  • general: Relocation package
  • general: Restricted stock units
  • general: Medical, dental, vision, life and disability benefits
  • general: Participation in 401(k) plan
  • general: 15 to 25 days of vacation per year (depending on tenure)
  • general: Up to 13 days of holidays per year
  • general: Up to 10 days of paid sick leave per year

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Tencent logo

Lead Gameplay Engineer

Tencent

Engineering Jobs

Lead Gameplay Engineer

full-timePosted: Oct 22, 2025

Job Description

Lead Gameplay Engineer

📋 Job Overview

Lightspeed LA, Tencent's first U.S.-based AAA game development studio, is seeking a Lead Gameplay Engineer to guide the creation of innovative open-world games featuring sophisticated player-driven gameplay and mature storytelling. The role involves leading a gameplay engineering team, implementing high-performance systems in C/C++, and fostering a collaborative, no-blame culture. This position offers the chance to work on genre-defining titles in a supportive environment that values iteration, transparency, and professional growth.

📍 Location: Irvine, California, United States

🏢 Business Unit: IEG

📄 Full Description

About the Hiring Team
Welcome to Lightspeed LA, the first U.S.-based, AAA game development studio for Tencent Games. Lightspeed LA is focused 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.
Why join Lightspeed LA?
For us, it's not only about the exciting, new AAA open world game we're developing but also about team values and studio culture. We foster an open and transparent environment where everyone feels comfortable providing constructive feedback about all aspects of our games.
● We encourage the showing of work that's still in progress.
● We don't attack or question unfinished work, we celebrate its promise.
● We have a No Blame Culture where we blame the problem, not the person.
This is a safe place to fail, and we don't view failure as a negative, but as the natural result of pushing boundaries and trying new things. We create together. We face Challenges Together. We succeed together.

What the Role Entails
Work with and lead a gameplay engineering team to craft development of innovative gameplay content systems and experiences
Work with design and production and engineering leadership to manage the gameplay schedule and backlog
Implement, debug and optimize gameplay systems in C/C++ and other languages
Author lean, high-performance, maintainable code
Cultivate strong cross-disciplinary working relationships based on honesty and transparency among various departments within the studio
Leadership and Management:Provide technical leadership across multiple gameplay systems and features
Mentor, develop, and learn from engineering colleagues
Be a leadership resource for engineers across the entire gameplay team
Help build and maintain an open and energetic team culture
Conduct regular one-on-one meetings with team members to provide guidance, feedback, and support their professional development
Participate in the recruitment and onboarding of new team members, ensuring a diverse and skilled team that aligns with project requirements
Facilitate team-building activities to promote a positive and collaborative working environment

Who We Look For
Experience working in Unreal Engine
Passion and enthusiasm for creating fun and engaging gameplay through iteration and innovation
Experience bringing multiple large-scale game titles to completion on PC and consoles
7+ years of professional game programming experience
Experience managing direct reports
Experience performing in a senior or principal software engineering role or equivalent
Ability to collaborate with other engineers, designers, artists and other game developers
Ability to work well in a fluid, changing environment as creative challenges evolve
Deep knowledge of gameplay systems involving AI, animation, physics, and character-related systems from engine to game
Expert in C++, debugging, and 3D mathematics
Enjoy working closely with creative and technical team members
Value lean, simple, efficient, well-tested code
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Preferred:Experience with game console hardware
Understanding of game asset pipelines

Why Join Us?
Location State(s)
US-California-Irvine
The expected base pay range for this position in the location(s) listed above is $116,200.00 to $343,600.00 per year. Actual pay may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.
Employees hired for this position may be eligible for a sign on payment, relocation package, and restricted stock units, which will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Subject to the terms and conditions of the plans in effect, hired applicants are also eligible for medical, dental, vision, life and disability benefits, and participation in the Company’s 401(k) plan. The Employee is also eligible for up to 15 to 25 days of vacation per year (depending on the employee’s tenure), up to 13 days of holidays throughout the calendar year, and up to 10 days of paid sick leave per year.
Your benefits may be adjusted to reflect your location, employment status, duration of employment with the company, and position level. Benefits may also be pro-rated for those who start working during the calendar year.

Equal Employment Opportunity at Tencent
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 of Tencent feels supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals.
Work Location: US-California-Irvine

🎯 Key Responsibilities

  • Work with and lead a gameplay engineering team to craft development of innovative gameplay content systems and experiences
  • Work with design and production and engineering leadership to manage the gameplay schedule and backlog
  • Implement, debug and optimize gameplay systems in C/C++ and other languages
  • Author lean, high-performance, maintainable code
  • Cultivate strong cross-disciplinary working relationships based on honesty and transparency among various departments within the studio
  • Provide technical leadership across multiple gameplay systems and features
  • Mentor, develop, and learn from engineering colleagues
  • Be a leadership resource for engineers across the entire gameplay team
  • Help build and maintain an open and energetic team culture
  • Conduct regular one-on-one meetings with team members to provide guidance, feedback, and support their professional development
  • Participate in the recruitment and onboarding of new team members, ensuring a diverse and skilled team that aligns with project requirements
  • Facilitate team-building activities to promote a positive and collaborative working environment

✅ Required Qualifications

  • Experience working in Unreal Engine
  • Passion and enthusiasm for creating fun and engaging gameplay through iteration and innovation
  • Experience bringing multiple large-scale game titles to completion on PC and consoles
  • 7+ years of professional game programming experience
  • Experience managing direct reports
  • Experience performing in a senior or principal software engineering role or equivalent
  • Ability to collaborate with other engineers, designers, artists and other game developers
  • Ability to work well in a fluid, changing environment as creative challenges evolve
  • Deep knowledge of gameplay systems involving AI, animation, physics, and character-related systems from engine to game
  • Expert in C++, debugging, and 3D mathematics
  • Enjoy working closely with creative and technical team members
  • Value lean, simple, efficient, well-tested code
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills

⭐ Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience with game console hardware
  • Understanding of game asset pipelines

🛠️ Required Skills

  • Unreal Engine
  • C/C++ programming
  • Debugging
  • 3D mathematics
  • Gameplay systems (AI, animation, physics, character-related)
  • Leadership and management
  • Mentoring and team development
  • Cross-disciplinary collaboration
  • Strong written and verbal communication
  • Writing lean, high-performance, maintainable code

🎁 Benefits

  • Competitive base pay range of $116,200.00 to $343,600.00 per year
  • Potential sign-on payment
  • Relocation package
  • Restricted stock units
  • Medical, dental, vision, life and disability benefits
  • Participation in 401(k) plan
  • 15 to 25 days of vacation per year (depending on tenure)
  • Up to 13 days of holidays per year
  • Up to 10 days of paid sick leave per year

Locations

  • Irvine, California, United States

Salary

116,200 - 343,600 USD / yearly

Skills Required

  • Unreal Engineintermediate
  • C/C++ programmingintermediate
  • Debuggingintermediate
  • 3D mathematicsintermediate
  • Gameplay systems (AI, animation, physics, character-related)intermediate
  • Leadership and managementintermediate
  • Mentoring and team developmentintermediate
  • Cross-disciplinary collaborationintermediate
  • Strong written and verbal communicationintermediate
  • Writing lean, high-performance, maintainable codeintermediate

Required Qualifications

  • Experience working in Unreal Engine (experience)
  • Passion and enthusiasm for creating fun and engaging gameplay through iteration and innovation (experience)
  • Experience bringing multiple large-scale game titles to completion on PC and consoles (experience)
  • 7+ years of professional game programming experience (experience)
  • Experience managing direct reports (experience)
  • Experience performing in a senior or principal software engineering role or equivalent (experience)
  • Ability to collaborate with other engineers, designers, artists and other game developers (experience)
  • Ability to work well in a fluid, changing environment as creative challenges evolve (experience)
  • Deep knowledge of gameplay systems involving AI, animation, physics, and character-related systems from engine to game (experience)
  • Expert in C++, debugging, and 3D mathematics (experience)
  • Enjoy working closely with creative and technical team members (experience)
  • Value lean, simple, efficient, well-tested code (experience)
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills (experience)

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience with game console hardware (experience)
  • Understanding of game asset pipelines (experience)

Responsibilities

  • Work with and lead a gameplay engineering team to craft development of innovative gameplay content systems and experiences
  • Work with design and production and engineering leadership to manage the gameplay schedule and backlog
  • Implement, debug and optimize gameplay systems in C/C++ and other languages
  • Author lean, high-performance, maintainable code
  • Cultivate strong cross-disciplinary working relationships based on honesty and transparency among various departments within the studio
  • Provide technical leadership across multiple gameplay systems and features
  • Mentor, develop, and learn from engineering colleagues
  • Be a leadership resource for engineers across the entire gameplay team
  • Help build and maintain an open and energetic team culture
  • Conduct regular one-on-one meetings with team members to provide guidance, feedback, and support their professional development
  • Participate in the recruitment and onboarding of new team members, ensuring a diverse and skilled team that aligns with project requirements
  • Facilitate team-building activities to promote a positive and collaborative working environment

Benefits

  • general: Competitive base pay range of $116,200.00 to $343,600.00 per year
  • general: Potential sign-on payment
  • general: Relocation package
  • general: Restricted stock units
  • general: Medical, dental, vision, life and disability benefits
  • general: Participation in 401(k) plan
  • general: 15 to 25 days of vacation per year (depending on tenure)
  • general: Up to 13 days of holidays per year
  • general: Up to 10 days of paid sick leave per year

Target Your Resume for "Lead Gameplay Engineer" , Tencent

Get personalized recommendations to optimize your resume specifically for Lead Gameplay Engineer. Takes only 15 seconds!

AI-powered keyword optimization
Skills matching & gap analysis
Experience alignment suggestions

Check Your ATS Score for "Lead Gameplay Engineer" , Tencent

Find out how well your resume matches this job's requirements. Get comprehensive analysis including ATS compatibility, keyword matching, skill gaps, and personalized recommendations.

ATS compatibility check
Keyword optimization analysis
Skill matching & gap identification
Format & readability score

Tags & Categories

TencentIrvineUnited StatesIEGIEG

Answer 10 quick questions to check your fit for Lead Gameplay Engineer @ Tencent.

Quiz Challenge
10 Questions
~2 Minutes
Instant Score

Related Books and Jobs

No related jobs found at the moment.