Associate Game Director, Hearthstone | Irvine, CA

Job Title

Associate Game Director, Hearthstone | Irvine, CA

Hearthstone

R026814

Pull up a chair and join us by the hearth! Blizzard is looking for an Associate Game Director to join the Hearthstone team. Hearthstone continues to reach millions of players worldwide and delivers as one of Blizzard’s flagship live-service titles. The Hearthstone team values creativity, collaboration, and a commitment to quality, and we are searching for an experienced design leader to add to our team of talented game makers.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work required to be on-site and some work-from-home. The home studio for this role is Irvine, CA.

• Partner with the Hearthstone leadership team to define and evolve the long-term vision and direction for the live game, including delivering best in class gameplay, supporting a healthy metagame, and driving ongoing improvements to the player experience.
• Drive cross-disciplinary working groups with clear goals, holding implementation of content releases and sophisticated systems accountable to a core vision and quality bar with kindness and candor.
• Champion quality in the delivery of fun and engaging card sets, providing actionable feedback and roadblock removal necessary for the design team to deliver on quality targets and business objectives.
• Develop an understanding of the game’s community to identify common points of friction and opportunities to deliver improvements to the overall player experience.
• Monitor the state of the game, leveraging player feedback and data to help influence direction and prioritization.
• Establish and maintain a creative environment, fostering a culture of experimentation, accountability, and success.
• Cultivate the skills of those working with you, constantly finding opportunities to help them improve their craft.

• 12+ years of professional game design experience, with at least 4 years in a leadership or managerial role within the gaming industry.
• Demonstrated success in analyzing designs at a project level and delivering high‑quality content in a live‑service environment.
• Proven ability to lead, grow, and inspire design teams, championing design craft while collaborating effectively with cross‑functional teams.

• Deep understanding of “games as service” and the live‑service loop, especially through the lens of free‑to‑play games.
• Strong project management skills and ability to maintain a strategic vision.
• Being an advocate for simple, intuitive, and future‑proof design, confident in speaking up or giving voice to dissenting opinions with clarity and respect.
• Commitment to creating a safe space for collaboration, communication, and creativity across all subject areas and departments.

• Previous experience working on a live, open‑ended strategy game, particularly trading card games (TCGs) or collectible card games (CCGs).
• Previous professional experience working in AAA game engines, e.g. Unreal, Unity, etc.
• A background in math, content design, economy design, or live ops.

• Strong documentation philosophies and strategies to evangelize your designs.
• Familiarity with user experience and user interface design principles.
• Active player of a variety of titles, especially mobile turn‑based strategy games and collectible card games.
• Enthusiastic and knowledgeable about Hearthstone.

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and Star Craft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre‑defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards.

Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via ®, Xbox, Play Station, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world’s largest and most successful…