Lead - Applied AI Gaming Engineer - Remote Eligible

SUMMARY

Gym Class is the #1 most played sports game in virtual reality, and #1 best rated game on the Meta Quest platform. Millions of players around the world have downloaded GC to play basketball, make friends, break a sweat, and compete to become a star.

As a Lead AI Engineer with a focus on Unity and VR at IRL Studios, you'll shape core mechanics and engage our vast community of Gym Class players, delivering an unparalleled virtual basketball experience. You’ll collaborate with our co-founders, engineers, artists, and designers across a wide variety of features. The company is backed by top technology and sports investors, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Y Combinator, National Basketball Association (NBA), the Golden State Warriors, and top player-investors like Kevin Durant, Danny Green, Zaza Pachulia, Andre Iguodala, and Lonzo Ball.

Join Gym Class if you'd like to work at the frontier of social gaming, love to ship great work that has a direct impact on a product and company, enjoy fast feedback cycles from a hungry community, and want to build your career with a fast-growing startup.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Lead AI/NPC Gameplay Roadmap: Take charge of Gym Class VR's AI/NPC gameplay roadmap, envisioning and implementing the future of interaction with immersive 3D bots in virtual reality.

Develop Innovative AI Systems: Build, refine, and optimize cutting-edge AI systems for resource-constrained environments, with a focus on mobile and VR platforms. Showcase your expertise in creating NPC systems such as behavior trees, motion matching, and behavioral cloning.

Collaborate with Design Teams: Work closely with design teams to develop core game mechanics that enhance the overall gameplay experience. Your input will be crucial in creating and refining unique gameplay mechanics that set our social VR sports game apart.

Optimize VR Gameplay Experience: Utilize your Unity and VR development proficiency to construct and fine-tune immersive gameplay experiences. Ensure that the VR gameplay is not only visually captivating but also optimized for performance.

Manage Ongoing Content Drops: Design and improve an engine for continuous content updates, ensuring a dynamic and engaging experience for players. Your role will involve keeping the game fresh with new content drops that align with the evolving needs and expectations of our player base.

Create Realistic Game Modes & Physics: Develop new game modes and realistic physics interactions that elevate the level of realism and excitement across multiple sports in our game. Your creativity will be crucial in designing gameplay modes that captivate and retain players.

Integrate Branded IP: Collaborate with the team to enhance the integration of virtual branded products within the game. Bring your skills to the forefront in seamlessly blending branded elements into the gaming experience.

Collaborate on Accessibility & User-Friendliness: Work with cross-disciplinary teams to enhance the overall player experience, ensuring accessibility and user-friendliness. Your collaborative efforts will contribute to creating a game that appeals to a broad audience.

QUALIFICATIONS

Proficiency in Unity & VR Development: Proven experience in creating and shipping Unity-based VR games is essential for success in this role.

Knowledge of C#: Demonstrated proficiency in C# programming, showcasing your ability to implement and optimize game systems.

Gameplay Engineering Skills: Solid understanding of core gameplay mechanics, with a track record of contributing to the development of engaging gameplay experiences.

Multiplayer Game Development: Familiarity with real-time multiplayer game development, enhancing your ability to create interactive and engaging multiplayer experiences.

Optimization Skills: Strong skills in game optimization to ensure the highest performance, with an additional advantage if you have experience in mobile game development in Unity.

Team Collaboration & Problem-Solving Abilities: Effective communication across various disciplines and creative problem-solving are essential. As the lead AI gaming engineer, you'll be tasked with building and leading a squad as the roadmap scales, making collaboration and leadership skills crucial to success.

PAY AND BENEFITS

Salary ranges may be inclusive of several career levels and will be narrowed during the interview process based on a number of factors, including the candidate’s experience, qualifications, and location. Additional benefits for this role include: equity; and medical, dental, and vision benefits.