Lead Unity Programmer – Combat Systems (Contract) — Expression of Interest

Game Developer is needed in Australia.

Windreeve Games is building a competitive, timing-based 1v1 fighting game for PC (Steam) in Unity, currently in Vertical Slice production ahead of Alpha/Beta. We’re looking for a senior Unity/C# programmer to own our core combat simulation for this phase: the combat engine (ability system, hit detection, targeting, damage/defence resolution, buffs/debuffs, crowd control) plus the foundational multiplayer session, sync, messaging, and authority framework our networking sits on. Our long-term netcode architecture (deterministic lockstep/rollback) is already locked as a design decision, with the deeper rollback/prediction implementation scheduled for Alpha — so for this contract we need someone confident designing and building clean, well-structured simulation and gameplay systems against a written spec, not necessarily prior rollback-netcode experience (a bonus if you have it, since there’s potential to continue into that work in Alpha). You’d be the senior technical voice on gameplay architecture for this phase, with a second programmer supporting UI/systems work alongside you. Version control via Diversion.

Please note: this posting is an expression of interest, not an immediate hire. The role is contingent on Windreeve Games receiving Screen Australia Games Production Fund / Screen Queensland grant funding, and we’ll be asking shortlisted candidates for a signed letter of commitment to support the application before any funding decision is made. Open to Australian residents only, with preference given to Queensland residents. For more on the project — including task-level detail we’ll link specifically for programmer applicants — see our public Codecks board:

Your tasks are available here:

• https://open.codecks.io/windreeve/decks/65-combat-engine
• https://open.codecks.io/windreeve/decks/66-network-framework

Budget range:
Budget: AUD $45/hr, estimated ~1,500 hours across the Vertical Slice phase — total approx. AUD $67,500 / USD $46,950 / GBP £35,200, paid in milestone/phased instalments rather than lump sum. Strong potential to continue into Alpha/Beta as the team scales toward ~20.

About the client
Project Opal is a 1v1 online multiplayer competitive game where players control class-based characters to use action-combat RPG-type abilities and fighting game mechanics to defeat the other player in a best 2-of-3 match.

Here is a video of the prototype:
At this point in time, we are not funded, but looking to receive grants from Screen Australia/Screen Queensland. If this is a project that is interesting to you but you are outside of this region, we do allow for in-kind contributions for revenue-share or later compensation.