Demo

Senior Gameplay AI Engineer

pubgsanramon
San Ramon, CA Full Time
POSTED ON 12/18/2025
AVAILABLE BEFORE 2/18/2026

THE OPPORTUNITY

Striking Distance Studios is looking for a Senior AI Engineer to work in a cooperative, cross-disciplinary team environment to implement gameplay features and systems within our games. 


RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Work across disciplines to build, refactor and maintain a variety of robust, flexible, and well-architected AI features.
  • Work with design team to prototype and implement AI behaviours that empower the fun.
  • Implement enemies, NPCs or any kind of AI managed characters.
  • Work with gameplay engineers to integrate developed AI systems.
  • Implement optimizations in perception systems and decision-making systems to make the AI performant.
  • Work on navigation & pathfinding systems and demonstrate the ability to debug complex AI issues.
  • Integrate and maintain AI middleware across all platforms.
  • Review the work of other engineers and provide mentorship on your area of knowledge.
  • Create and maintain technical design documents.
  • Delve into code written by other engineers and take ownership of existing systems as needed.
  • Keep current on technological developments and advancements.
  • Research and develop coding techniques and algorithms.
  • Collaborate with technology director on technical design and feature roll out.
  • Write clear, maintainable, portable, and highly performant code.
  • Communicate accurate status updates to your team leads, producers, and QA regarding tasks/features you are responsible for.
  • Adhere to team coding standards and best practices.
  • Foster a culture of open, honest, and respectful communication across all disciplines.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Bachelor's degree in software engineering, computer science, or equivalent.
  • At least 5 years of games industry experience and preferably 3 years or more in a similar role.
  • At least 3 years of experience with Unreal Engine.
  • Experience shipping games on current generation consoles (PS5 or XSX) and PC.
  • Advanced ability to be self-directed, focused and detail oriented.
  • Advanced C skills.
  • Advance knowledge on blueprints and AI decision making tools (Unreal behaviour trees, utility AI, etc.).
  • Advance knowledge of navigation and pathfinding systems.
  • 3D math skills.
  • Advanced verbal and written communications skills.
  • A demonstrable love / passion for playing and making video games.
  • A highly communicative and collaborative disposition.

Reasonable Accommodation

KRAFTON Americas is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, the Company will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to apply for an open position, perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact the HR Talent team at KRAFTON Americas, to begin the interactive process.

 

EEOC statement

KRAFTON Americas provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type.

In California, the expected salary range for this position is $138,000-$210,000. The listed expected salary range represents a good faith estimate and the actual pay may depend on a variety of job-related factors that can include experience, education, skills, and location.

Don’t meet every single requirement? 

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply at jobs unless they meet every single qualification.  At Krafton we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.  You might just be the right candidate for this or other roles.

Due to recent scams, our recruiters will only reach out to you via @sds.com, @krafton.com, @unknownworlds.com or @pubg.com. If you received an email and are unsure you can always email recruiting_ka@krafton.com. 

Salary : $138,000 - $210,000

If your compensation planning software is too rigid to deploy winning incentive strategies, it’s time to find an adaptable solution. Compensation Planning
Enhance your organization's compensation strategy with salary data sets that HR and team managers can use to pay your staff right. Surveys & Data Sets

What is the career path for a Senior Gameplay AI Engineer?

Sign up to receive alerts about other jobs on the Senior Gameplay AI Engineer career path by checking the boxes next to the positions that interest you.
Income Estimation: 
$109,939 - $144,341
Income Estimation: 
$131,745 - $167,716
Income Estimation: 
$144,503 - $184,592
Income Estimation: 
$102,541 - $137,871
Income Estimation: 
$153,752 - $200,235
Income Estimation: 
$213,354 - $274,761
Income Estimation: 
$277,105 - $362,555
Income Estimation: 
$85,996 - $102,718
Income Estimation: 
$111,859 - $131,446
Income Estimation: 
$110,457 - $133,106
Income Estimation: 
$105,809 - $128,724
Income Estimation: 
$122,763 - $145,698
Income Estimation: 
$105,809 - $128,724
Income Estimation: 
$136,611 - $163,397
Income Estimation: 
$135,163 - $163,519
Income Estimation: 
$131,953 - $159,624
Income Estimation: 
$150,859 - $181,127
Income Estimation: 
$131,953 - $159,624
Income Estimation: 
$169,825 - $204,021
Income Estimation: 
$166,631 - $195,636
Income Estimation: 
$162,237 - $199,353
Income Estimation: 
$181,083 - $218,117
View Core, Job Family, and Industry Job Skills and Competency Data for more than 15,000 Job Titles Skills Library

Not the job you're looking for? Here are some other Senior Gameplay AI Engineer jobs in the San Ramon, CA area that may be a better fit.

  • Articul8 AI Dublin, CA
  • About Articul8 AI At Articul8, we build enterprise-grade Generative AI solutions that help global organizations unlock new value from their data. Our platf... more
  • 5 Days Ago

  • pubgsanramon San Ramon, CA
  • Welcome to Striking Distance Studios! Driven by people. Inspired by challenges. Relentless to deliver creative excellence. At the intersection of art, desi... more
  • 1 Month Ago

AI Assistant is available now!

Feel free to start your new journey!