Senior Gameplay Programmer (Contract)

Contract: Initial 12-week contract with potential extension. Total engagement expected to remain under six months.About Twisted WorksWe are an independent game studio based in London, creating original games for PC and Console with a focus on online co-op experiences.Founded in 2024 by veteran developers from PlayStation London, Guerrilla Cambridge, Creative Assembly, Disney Interactive, Square Enix and more. Our collective credits include Horizon Forbidden West, Blood & Truth, Resident Evil 7, Killzone, Total War, Middle-earth: Shadow of War and many others.Our debut title, Cast Outs, is a co-op action game set in a reimagined modern fantasy London. It reflects the kind of games we make. Replayable experiences built around strong core gameplay, meaningful co-op, and memorable moments between players and friends.This role is for a separate project currently in an early prototype stage.About the RoleWe are looking for a senior, hands-on Gameplay Programmer to help build a prototype for a new 2-4 player co op action game in Unreal Engine.You will work directly with our team and partners to translate gameplay hypotheses, design ideas and intended player behaviours into testable systems, then rapidly iterate, simplify or discard them based on what we learn through playtesting.The objective is not to build final production architecture or simply implement a fixed feature list. It is to build the smallest, strongest version of the game that proves whether the core gameplay is fun, understandable and worth taking forward.If the project progresses successfully toward full production, there may be opportunities to continue working with the team beyond the initial engagement.What You Will Work OnTranslate gameplay hypotheses and design ideas into testable implementations, then rapidly iterate, simplify or discard systems based on playtestingPlayer locomotion, movement states, and third-person controlsRanged combat, targeting, damage and knockbackHealth, downed, revive, death and recovery statesContextual interactions including carrying, repairing, switches and other world interactionsTwo to four player networked gameplay, replicated interactions and shared gameplay stateCooperative gameplay systems including proximity, shared objectives and resource managementEnvironmental hazards, progression blockers and cooperative puzzlesRoute and objective logicEnemy AI including movement, targeting, behaviour priorities and interactions with players and objectivesMultiplayer AI behaviour and replicationMultiplayer session flow including lobbies, game start, success, failure and restart statesGameplay debugging, profiling, optimisation and iteration through playtestingWhat We NeedStrong professional Unreal Engine experienceStrong C++ gameplay programming skillsPractical experience implementing networked multiplayer gameplayStrong understanding of Unreal replication, RPCs, authority and ownershipComfortable working across C++ and BlueprintExperience building tuneable gameplay systemsExperience working directly with designersAbility to prototype quickly and iterate through playtestingStrong debugging and problem-solving skillsComfortable taking ownership of features from design intent through to playable implementationMost importantly, we need someone who has personally built gameplay that works across a networked multiplayer session.