Senior Game Designer

Mojang Studios is best known as the creators of Minecraft, but we’re also on a mission – to build a better world through the power of play.

Why play? Well, play is at the heart of everything we do. It’s the blocky backbone of our games, the core of our development philosophy, and even the origin of our name. From the relentless experimentation of our endlessly inspiring community to the classrooms where Minecraft has become an essential teaching tool, play is the bedrock of our existence.

Role Overview

The Minecraft team is expanding to help realize our dream of an even better Minecraft experience! To help us move towards our long-term vision for Minecraft, we are looking for a talented and experienced game designer to join our team in Minecraft Gameplay!

The Minecraft Gameplay team is responsible for the gameplay of the original Minecraft game, on all platforms and for all players. As a Senior Game Designer, you will work closely together with the rest of the Minecraft team and our community to develop new features in Minecraft and to improve existing gameplay. You will be part of the full process of gameplay development - from brainstorming and design to implementation and maintenance, taking ownership of features from initial concept through to release and ongoing improvement.

This is a full-time role based in Stockholm with a hybrid working model, where we work from the office three days a week. Please note that we are currently only considering candidates based in Sweden.

As a Senior Game Designer in the Minecraft Gameplay team, you will:

• Work in a cross-functional team collaborating closely with artists, audio designers, engineers and others - from ideation, to prototyping, all the way to release and beyond.
• Lead the creation of design ideas and concepts related to new and existing features and efficiently articulate rationales, feedback, and design choices.
• Cooperate with creative direction and other leaders to ensure each feature is well-aligned with the game's and project's creative vision and direction.
• Lead and participate in design discussions, influence design decisions, and help colleagues across disciplines deepen their understanding of game design principles and methodologies.
• Test, evaluate and balance your designs in cooperation with our Data Team, Community Developers, stakeholders and other departments, using player insights, data, internal play testing and community feedback to validate decisions and drive continuous improvement.
• Design for a truly generational, ever-evolving survival sandbox game. We create possibilities rather than one experience.
• Develop, and continuously evolve, a deep understanding of Minecraft, its history and its community and share this expertise across multiple teams at Mojang Studios.

To flourish in this role, we believe you to have:

• 10+ years of professional experience working with gameplay design.
• Experience with and ability to work with data to understand your target players, evaluate design outcomes, and make informed decisions.
• The ability to take ownership of complex design challenges, balance competing priorities, and guide features towards successful outcomes.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbally and in written form.
• Experience playing Minecraft, and an understanding of what makes Minecraft what it is.

To succeed in this role, you must have the ability to drive an idea from concept to completed feature in a collaborative environment. You are a team player who understands the importance of communication when working in a cross-functional team with a lot of stakeholders. Finally, you are humble but really good at what you do. If that sounds like you, we’re looking forward to meeting you!

Mojang Studios

Mojang Studios is a Microsoft-owned game developer. The company was founded in Stockholm, Sweden and has offices around the world, including Stockholm, Redmond, Tokyo, London, and Shanghai. We’re always working on new and exciting ways to expand the Minecraft universe.

Our community is global and incredibly diverse. We keep this in mind when developing anything, as we want people to feel included in Minecraft. And in recruiting, our goal is to make Mojang Studios as diverse as our community.

We got started as a tiny indie developer, and part of our culture still reflects that heritage. But we’re also proud to belong to Xbox Game Studios, which creates unique opportunities to grow and develop.

To help us achieve amazing things, we have built an equally amazing studio space. Situated right on the water by Söder Mälarstrand, it’s filled to the brim with all the tools, toys and caffeine required to create world-class entertainment.

But in the end, it’s the people of Mojang Studios that make this place truly special. When you join, you’ll find yourself in the company of incredibly bright, warm, and creative individuals – all united and working toward a single goal. Come help us reach it!

Important note on resumes

Please make sure that all the information in your resume is accurate because we will conduct a thorough background check. Any discrepancies will lower your chances of getting to the next interview stage and we’d hate to miss out on an awesome candidate! Double check that any gap years are reflected in your history, and that your education and work experience are completely accurate. Good luck!