Job Title: Java Backend Developer with Devops Location: SFO, CA (All 5 days Onsite) Duration: long term Type: Contract W2 Experience: 8 - 12 Years Interview: In-person is must for Client interview Job Description: We are…
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.
734
Open roles today
$40–$111/hr
Typical pay range
$149k
Median, full-time
5
Fresh in this list
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Open game developer roles
12 shown of 734 · sorted by freshness
$142.52k - $191.18k
every minute of every day - from Disney+ and Hulu, to ABC News and Entertainment, to ESPN and ESPN+, and much more. Innovation: We develop and execute groundbreaking products and techniques that shape industry norms and…
$160k - $195k
, our mission is to make intelligent agents ubiquitous. We build the foundation for agent engineering in the real world, helping developers move from prototypes to production-ready AI agents that teams can rely on. We be…
$190.8k - $262.8k
in the next few years. We're dedicated to empowering this transformation by building the tools and experiences that thousands of developers use to create their own products. Plaid powers the tools millions of people rely…
visions to market. About the Role Are you an engineer passionate about using UAV technology to reimagine logistics? Do you thrive in developing and deploying state-of-the-art systems in real-world environments? Do you lo…
About Us We're tackling one of healthcare's most critical challenges in medical imaging and diagnostics. Our company operates at the intersection of cutting-edge AI and clinical practice, building technology that directl…
$209k - $313k
Snap Inc is a technology company. We believe the camera presents the greatest opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate. Snap contributes to human progress by empowering people to express themselves, liv…
experiences, and build a legacy that inspires future generations. Game Designer (Experience & Systems) About the Role We're looking... ...are engaging without relying on exploitative monetization. You develop a recogniza…
$150k - $200k
Moritz Legal (YC W26) · San Francisco, CA (Hybrid, SoMa) · Full-time · $150K–$200K + 0.1–0.3% equity About Moritz Moritz Legal is building an AI-native law firm — a legal practice designed from the ground up around AI ra…
We are seeking an experienced UI/UX Frontend Lead Developer with strong React.js expertise to lead frontend architecture, establish UI standards, and build scalable enterprise applications. This role combines hands-on de…
development technologies, tools, and processes Present your own designs to internal/external groups and review designs of others Develop test strategies, design automation frameworks, write unit/functional tests to drive…
$172k - $276k
doing good – you’ve come to the right place. Role Description: Salesforce has immediate opportunities for senior software developers who want their lines of code to have significant and measurable positive impact for use…
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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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