Principal Research Scientist, Gameplay AI - Tech Research

About the Role

Research Scientists at Riot combine deep technical expertise across machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), experimental design, and systems engineering to invent new ways players experience games. As a Principal Research Scientist, you operate at the frontier of what’s possible and set the standard for how research is conducted and how it translates into extraordinary gameplay.

As a Principal Research Scientist in Tech Research, you will lead a small, cross-functional team focused on building AI-powered gameplay prototypes. These prototypes are not paper exercises, instead they are playable, opinionated explorations of new game mechanics, agent behaviors, and player experiences enabled by modern AI. You will be responsible for identifying promising research directions, translating them into concrete gameplay experiments, and driving them from early concept through working prototypes that influence game teams. You will be the technical and creative lead on complex, ambiguous problems where success requires strong judgment, rapid iteration, and an ability to balance research rigor with hands-on building. You will set the vision and quality bar, leading by example in various capacities, including writing code, shaping robust systems, and mentoring team members. You will lead AI-driven gameplay exploration who is tasked with rapidly testing new ideas through playable prototypes, rigorous evaluation, and real player insight. Your team will identify emerging research with the potential to meaningfully change gameplay, turn it into concrete gameplay experiments, and work with game teams to transform validated breakthroughs into options Riot can confidently commit to.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead AI-powered gameplay research directions, translating emerging ML/AI capabilities into concrete, playable game prototypes
• Build, lead, and mentor a small cross-functional team, setting technical direction while remaining deeply hands-on
• Own research and prototyping roadmaps, milestones, and risk management for multi-quarter initiatives
• Work closely with game teams to understand player goals and design constraints, ensuring prototypes are grounded in real gameplay needs
• Rapidly iterate on prototypes, balancing research rigor with playability, performance, and developer usability
• Stay current with academic and industry advances in AI for games, reinforcement learning, generative models, and agent systems
• Communicate vision, progress, and learnings clearly to stakeholders, helping teams understand both what works and what doesn’t

Required Qualifications

• MS in Computer Science or equivalent with 6+ years research experience or BS in Computer Science or equivalent with 8+ years research experience
• Strong background in applied or foundational research, with experience leading projects through hypothesis-driven experimentation
• 2+ years of experience in machine learning for sequential decision-making, agents, or complex systems (e.g., RL, imitation learning, planning, or hybrid approaches)
• Proficiency in C, C++, or Python
• Demonstrated contributions to public research (e.g., publications, talks, open-source projects)
• Experience designing and implementing complex systems that integrate ML with real-time or interactive environments
• Expertise with PyTorch or TensorFlow
• Experience working in commercial game engines for prototyping or production
• Strong understanding of gameplay systems, game loops, and real-time constraints
• Experience collaborating closely with designers and engineers in a game development context