Game design is the invisible backbone of every successful title. A skilled game designer defines the rules, systems, and flow that make players stay, spend, and come back. They work at the intersection of psychology, mathematics, and storytelling — shaping how a game feels long before a single asset is drawn or a line of code is written.
Whether you’re launching a casual mobile game, a complex iGaming platform, or an immersive AAA experience, the quality of your game design determines your retention rates, monetization performance, and long-term player satisfaction. Hiring the right game designer is not a luxury — it’s a strategic investment.
Game design is not a single role — it’s a family of specializations. Depending on your project’s phase, platform, and genre, you’ll need different expertise. Here’s a breakdown of the designer profiles available through EJAW’s outstaffing team:
| Designer Type | Core Responsibility | Best Suited For |
|---|---|---|
| Game Systems Designer | Crafts rules, economies, and progression loops | RPGs, strategy, iGaming platforms |
| Level Designer | Builds spatial flow, pacing, and challenge curves | Action, puzzle, and adventure games |
| UI/UX Game Designer | Designs menus, HUDs, and in-game interfaces | All platforms, especially mobile |
| Mobile Game Designer | Adapts gameplay for touch, sessions, and monetization | iOS & Android casual and mid-core games |
| Video Game Designer | Manages narrative, mechanics, and cinematic experience | PC, console, and AAA productions |
| Economy / Monetization Designer | Balances in-game currencies, rewards, and IAP funnels | Free-to-play, iGaming, and live service games |
Our designers are not generalists working from templates. Each professional on the EJAW team has shipped titles on specific platforms, and that experience shows in how they handle constraints — screen size, input method, session length, and monetization mechanics all vary dramatically between platforms. You can hire:
Choosing between hiring a dedicated designer and outsourcing your entire design phase depends on your team structure, timeline, and how much creative control you want to retain. Here’s how the two models compare in practice:
EJAW supports both models. If you need to fill a specific design gap in your team, we provide dedicated game designers who integrate directly into your workflow. If you’re building something from scratch and want to move fast, we can structure a full engagement with project oversight included.
We’ve built a hiring process that’s fast, transparent, and low-friction. Most clients have a designer ready to start within one week of the initial call. Here’s what the process looks like from your side:
We discuss your project type, required expertise, budget range, and expected timeline. No sales pressure — just a working conversation.
Within 48–72 hours, we present 2–3 pre-vetted designers whose portfolios and skill sets match your needs directly.
You meet the candidates, review their portfolios, and can request a brief test task if needed. The choice is fully yours.
Once you’ve selected your designer, we handle the contract and the designer starts working within your team — reporting directly to you.
EJAW game designers are not just creative thinkers — they are production-ready professionals with command of the tools and methodologies used in modern game studios. When you hire through EJAW, you’re getting designers who can contribute from day one without a long ramp-up period.
| Skill Area | Tools & Methods |
|---|---|
| Game Design Documentation | GDD writing, Notion, Confluence, Miro, Figma |
| Prototyping | Unity (rapid prototyping), paper prototyping, Axure, InVision |
| Systems & Economy Design | Excel / Google Sheets simulation, balance modeling, progression math |
| UI/UX Design | Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch, usability testing frameworks |
| Level Design | Unity Editor, Unreal Engine, Tiled, hand-drawn flow mapping |
| Analytics & Data-Driven Design | A/B testing, funnel analysis, retention KPIs, LTV modeling |
Every designer on our team has been through a structured vetting process that covers not just technical skill but also communication ability, documentation quality, and cross-disciplinary collaboration experience. This is critical when working in a remote or hybrid model.
Dedicated game designer outstaffing is not a one-size-fits-all solution — but it’s a strong fit for a specific range of companies and situations. The following types of teams consistently see the highest return from this model:
Studios that have a pipeline but lack the in-house design headcount to execute it. A dedicated hire lets you move fast without committing to a permanent salary before the project is proven.
Operators launching proprietary casino or slot games who need a designer with real knowledge of game math, volatility, and player engagement mechanics in regulated markets.
Publishers shipping mobile games who need a designer experienced in short session loops, ad monetization integration, and the specific UX patterns that drive installs and retention on app stores.
Early-stage teams that have strong technical founders but no game design expertise. A senior designer can prevent the most common structural mistakes that doom new games before launch.
Non-gaming companies adding gamification layers to apps, loyalty systems, or training platforms, where a game designer translates engagement psychology into product features.
Teams maintaining and expanding launched games, who need continuous design support for seasonal content, balance updates, and new feature rollouts without disrupting core operations.
In most cases, we can present matched candidates within 48–72 hours of your initial brief. After you select a designer and sign the agreement, they can begin work within the same week. For niche specializations — such as iGaming economy designers or VR experience designers — the timeline may extend slightly, but we aim to never exceed two weeks from first contact to kickoff.
Mobile game designers specialize in designing around the constraints of touch interfaces, short play sessions (typically 2–5 minutes), ad-based and in-app purchase monetization, and the performance limitations of mobile hardware. Video game designers working on PC or console titles focus more on narrative depth, complex input schemes (keyboard, gamepad), longer session design, and cinematic production values. While there’s overlap in core design thinking, the workflows, tools, and priorities differ significantly between the two tracks.
Yes. EJAW offers flexible engagement structures — full-time (160 hours/month), part-time (80 hours/month), and project-based arrangements. Project-based is most common for early-phase work like GDD creation, prototyping, or a level design sprint. Full-time is typical for studios embedding a designer into an active production team. We’ll help you determine the right structure based on your scope and budget.
All work produced by EJAW designers during your engagement is fully owned by you, the client. We include IP assignment and work-for-hire clauses in every contract, along with NDAs where required. EJAW retains no rights to design documents, system specifications, assets, or any other deliverables created for your project.
We offer a replacement guarantee. If you’re not satisfied with your designer’s performance within the first 30 days, we will source and present a replacement at no additional cost. Our account managers check in regularly during the first month to catch and address any friction early. In practice, replacement requests are rare — our pre-vetting process is designed to prevent mismatches before they happen.