$183.6k - $297k
Our MissionAt Palo Alto Networks, we’re united by a shared mission—to protect our digital way of life. We thrive at the intersection of innovation and impact, solving real-world problems with cutting-edge technology and…
Engineering & IT · San Francisco, CA
Game Developer jobs in San Francisco, CA
Game developers build interactive experiences in engines like Unity and Unreal — writing gameplay systems, optimizing performance, and collaborating with artists and designers to ship playable worlds.
791
Open roles today
$40–$111/hr
Typical pay range
$149k
Median, full-time
11
Fresh in this list
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Open game developer roles
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We are looking for a Sr Java Engineer to help design and enhance the services behind a customer-facing Consumer Insights platform in San Francisco, California. This long-term contract position focuses on building reliabl…
$141.2k - $278.3k
process, please direct your inquiries to the Global Call Center (GCC) at ****@*****.***. Recruiting tips From developing a stand out resume to putting your best foot forward in the interview, we want you to feel prepared…
Overview Atlassian is looking for a Senior Product Marketing Manager to own how we bring our developer platform to market, with primary responsibility for Forge and the broader developer GTM.This is a hybrid Product Mark…
$173.37k - $234.56k
We are rebuilding biotech for the AI era.When a breakthrough is delayed, the world waits. Getting a molecule from discovery to patients, or a crop from lab to field, involves thousands of slow, manual, disconnected steps…
$155k - $400k
About SentrySoftware runs the world and the pace is faster than ever. Sentry helps developers fix errors and performance issues before users notice, so teams can spend less time firefighting and more time building.Truste…
Emulation Expert: Consulting & Turnkey projects Virtusa Semiconductor BU is looking for seasoned professionals in the Hardware Assisted Verification domain. . Virtusa is invested in AI/HPC [High Performance Computing] cu…
$150k - $250k
team as we help shape a brighter way forward. JLL is a Fortune 200 real estate and investment management company. Falcon is JLL's developer platform: the CI/CD, developer portal, and dependency tooling every engineering…
We are looking for a Front-End Developer to join a well-known consumer brand in San Francisco, California. This long-term remote contract position offers the opportunity to create engaging, customer-facing web experience…
Who we areAbout StripeStripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies—from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups—use Stripe to accept payments, grow their reve…
$197.3k - $313.7k
integrating open source technologies into the FKP software stack, and set the technical bar for how these integrations are done.We are developing the next-gen architecture for FKP, and as a PMTS you will be a primary arc…
We are seeking an experienced Salesforce Developer to design, develop, customize, and maintain Salesforce applications and integrations. The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience with Salesforce developmen…
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What game developers earn in San Francisco
Hourly first — that's how the offer arrives
| Experience | Hourly | Annual, full-time |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level | $40–$59 | $84k–$123k |
| Mid level | $59–$84 | $123k–$175k |
| Senior | $81–$111 | $168k–$231k |
Adjusted for the San Francisco market from national ranges.
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What employers ask for
The skills these listings keep naming
Unity (C#) or Unreal (C++)Gameplay programming3D math (vectors, matrices)Performance profilingPhysics and animation systemsMultiplayer networking (a plus)Shaders and graphics basicsCollaboration with art and designIterating from playtest feedback
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Interview questions worth rehearsing
With the thing the interviewer is actually listening for
Walk me through a gameplay system you built — movement, combat, inventory, anything.
Explain the architecture and how it survived design changes. Games iterate constantly, so flexible systems are the real skill being probed.
Your frame rate dropped below target. How do you find the cause?
Profile first — CPU versus GPU — then narrow to draw calls, scripts, physics, or garbage collection. Naming the actual profiler tools you use makes it credible.
Explain the difference between Update and FixedUpdate (or tick contexts in your engine).
Frame-dependent versus fixed-timestep logic, and why physics belongs in the fixed step. A quick example of a bug caused by mixing them up is a nice touch.
How do you handle a designer requesting a change that breaks your architecture?
Show that you serve the game: understand the intent, propose alternatives, and refactor when the design direction is real. Rigidity is a bigger flag than rework.
What would you consider when adding multiplayer to a single-player game?
Authority, state synchronization, latency compensation, and the honest answer that retrofitting networking is expensive. Scoping realism is the point.
Tell me about a game you shipped or finished — even a small one.
Finished matters more than ambitious. Talk about the last 20 percent: polish, bugs, cuts you made to actually release.
How do you use object pooling, and why?
Reusing objects to avoid allocation and garbage-collection spikes — bullets and effects are the classic case. Tie it to a frame-time problem you solved.
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Resume tips that move the needle
For game developers specifically — generic advice costs you here
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Link playable work — shipped titles, itch.io projects, or a portfolio reel; in games, the work is the resume.
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Specify your engine and language depth (Unity/C#, Unreal/C++) and your specialty: gameplay, graphics, tools, or networking.
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Name your specific contributions on team titles — 'built the save system and enemy AI' beats a credit line.
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Include game jams and finished small projects; they prove you can complete things, which studios weight heavily.
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Show performance work with numbers, such as frame-rate targets hit on specific hardware.
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Where this role goes
Typical progression
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Junior Game Developer
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Game Developer
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Senior Game Developer
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Lead Programmer
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Technical Director
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