Job Overview:
Game Director Attribute Details
Position Title Game Director – Hearthstone
Company Blizzard Entertainment (A division of Activision Blizzard, acquired by Microsoft)
Location Irvine, CA
Work Arrangement Flexible Hybrid (Mix of remote and on-site days, with full-time on-site optional)
Base Salary Range $136,880.00 – $253,260.00 Annual
Employment Type Full-Time, Permanent
Comprehensive Responsibilities as Game Director 1. Visionary Creative & Gameplay Stewardship Define and Evolve the Live Environment: Establish, articulate, and maintain a compelling near-term vision for the live game. Ensure that all updates deliver best-in-class gameplay, preserve a balanced and dynamic metagame, and systematically reduce player friction points.
Quality Assurance & Execution: Serve as the ultimate arbiter of quality for all upcoming card sets and systemic expansions. Provide clear, actionable feedback to the design pipelines, removing systemic roadblocks to enable the team to hit aggressive quality and business objectives.
Format Diversification: Drive creative excellence simultaneously across high-velocity modes, including traditional constructed formats, alternative deck-building experiences, and the Battlegrounds ecosystem.
2. Cross-Disciplinary Integration & Data-Informed Iteration Stakeholder Synthesis: Act as the central nexus connecting design ambition with commercial reality. Partner intimately with Product Management, Telemetry, Data Science, and Marketing to convert complex consumer insights and market opportunities into a coherent, prioritized product roadmap.
Systemic Accountability: Lead high-impact, cross-disciplinary working groups tasked with executing complex feature sets. Ensure that the implementation of advanced systems remains true to the original creative vision while adhering strictly to high performance standards.
Executive Representation: Function as the primary ambassador for Hearthstone’s design health to senior Blizzard and Microsoft leadership. Authoritatively present strategic plans, lifecycle analytics, risk evaluations, and monetization performance to drive organizational alignment.
3. Community Engagement & Sentiment Architecture Sentiment Advocacy: Develop an exhaustive, empathetic understanding of the Hearthstone community ecosystem. Monitor community discourse, content creator ecosystems, and formal user research to diagnose macroeconomic trends in player satisfaction.
Feedback Integration: Construct robust internal feedback loops that balance quantitative data (telemetry, business performance metrics) with qualitative community feedback to inform balance patches, feature priorities, and live ops cadences.
Foster Innovation: Maintain a high-trust, low-ego creative environment that prioritizes healthy experimentation, professional accountability, and iterative success.
Talent Cultivation: Directly mentor and champion the design organization. Identify growth opportunities for staff, actively leveling up their technical design capabilities, leadership maturity, and industry craft.
Inclusive Collaboration: Build and protect a safe, diverse workspace where contrasting viewpoints are voiced and evaluated with radical candor and mutual respect.
Role Requirements as Game Director Minimum Qualifications Industry Longevity: A minimum of 12+ years of professional game design experience, featuring a proven track record of at least 4 years in a senior leadership, director-level, or equivalent creative executive capacity within the interactive entertainment sector.
Live-Service Expertise: Demonstrated success launching and maintaining high-profile, large-scale live-service titles utilizing free-to-play (F2P) monetization mechanics. Must possess deep expertise in managing recurring content drops and live feedback loops.
Genre Mastery: Professional experience directing competitive, player-versus-player (PvP) strategy games, with a sophisticated understanding of card mechanics, systemic balance, and metagame lifecycle management.
Strategic Communication: Exceptional communication and organizational influence skills, with a proven ability to align matrixed stakeholder groups—including executive suites, analytics teams, and publishing arms—around a singular vision.
Design Philosophy: A steadfast commitment to intuitive, future-proofed design methodologies, combined with the professional maturity to advocate for dissenting, player-first perspectives constructively.
Preferred Qualifications:
TCG/CCG Affinity: A profound professional or personal passion for trading card games and digital collectible card games.
Technical Frameworks: Prior hands-on experience navigating AAA production environments and game engines (e.g., Unity, Unreal Engine).
Analytical Foundations: A strong academic or professional background in mathematics, economic systems modeling, content balance design, or live operations strategy.
UX/UI Acumen: A deep familiarity with modern user experience and interface design paradigms, particularly across mobile and PC cross-play ecosystems.
Comprehensive Documentation: A highly organized approach to design documentation, utilizing modern tools to evangelize design intent across global teams.
Workspace, Culture, and Compensation Workplace Architecture: This position operates under Blizzard’s flexible hybrid framework, blending targeted remote work capabilities with collaborative on-site sessions. Candidates are also welcome to utilize our Irvine, California campus full-time.
Total Rewards and Compensation Base Salary Range: $136,880.00 – $253,260.00 Annualized. (Final compensation offers are determined based on geographic location, depth of experience, and historical portfolio performance).
Incentive Opportunities: This executive position is eligible for discretionary performance-based annual incentive bonuses and equity consideration.
Health and Wellness Benefits Comprehensive Coverage: Elite medical, dental, and vision insurance options, alongside flexible Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts.
Financial Protections: Company-matched 401(k) programs, comprehensive life and AD&D insurance, and robust short- and long-term disability structures.
Work-Life Balance: Generous paid vacation accrual, dedicated sick leave, parental leave policies, paid holidays, and floating personal days.
Perks and Wellness: Dedicated mental health programs, subsidized fitness memberships, tuition reimbursement programs, charitable donation matching, and complimentary/discounted access to Activision Blizzard and Microsoft gaming ecosystems.
Relocation Support: Corporate relocation assistance packages are available for qualified candidates requiring geographic transfer to the Irvine, CA area.
