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Starform is a small, focused game studio in Seattle creating culturally significant games. Their flagship title, Metalstorm, is a 5v5 real-time air-combat game with 17+ million lifetime players. The studio intentionally stays small to maximize creative output and team cohesion.
You will own the vision and execution of content and systems driving customization, progression, economy, and monetization—the studio's highest-leverage design surfaces. Working closely with the Creative Director, you'll define strategy and translate it into tangible game improvements. The role balances systems design with gameplay content creation: you'll design modes, aircraft, weapons, and abilities while tuning economic systems and guiding content teams.
Key responsibilities include: designing and shipping features from concept through launch and live-ops tuning; owning systems across gameplay, progression, economy, customization, and monetization; developing monetization strategies that feel fair and rewarding while preserving competitive integrity; writing clear design documentation that aligns engineering, art, QA, production, analytics, community, and marketing; leveraging AI tools to prototype economies, simulate balance, and run more design iterations; using analytics and playtesting to iterate based on real player behavior; and collaborating as a trusted creative partner across disciplines.
You'll make decisions based on how players actually behave, challenge assumptions constructively, and raise the quality of design discussions through clear thinking and strong rationale. Success means becoming one of the studio's most trusted voices on design quality, shaping Metalstorm's direction through data-informed decisions, shipping meaningful improvements to engagement and monetization systems, and building strong partnerships across the team.
Required: 7+ years professional game-design experience, including 2+ years in a lead role; shipped and operated live-service games, preferably free-to-play; deep systems and monetization design expertise (progression, economy, live events, competitive multiplayer); strong understanding of player behavior, retention, and long-term engagement; excellent design judgment and communication skills; hands-on experience in Unity, Unreal, or equivalent; strong economy-modeling skills in Excel/Google Sheets; comfort with analytics platforms (Mixpanel, Looker, Tableau, or similar).
