Data Scientist

Job Description

Work closely with product, game design, and engineering on game difficulty, progression, and economy in Candy Crush Saga. Ensure that 23,000+ levels and game features combine into a balanced, engaging, and evolving player experience. Analyses, experiments, and models will directly shape gameplay decisions for millions of players. Exercise significant ownership of the problem space and act as a trusted analytical voice in product and design discussions.

Responsibilities

• Analyze game difficulty, progression, and player behavior across the level catalog to identify friction, pacing issues, and opportunities.
• Design, monitor, and analyze A/B tests related to difficulty, features, and economy.
• Use data, models, and simulations to inform difficulty tuning, balance, and the interaction of features, boosters, and economy mechanics with player outcomes.
• Bring a strong analytical perspective to product and design discussions to help shape priorities and trade-offs.
• Communicate insights, experiment results, and recommendations clearly to stakeholders with varying levels of data literacy.
• Define tracking specifications to ensure data availability and reliability regarding player interaction with levels and features.
• Build independent data models and dashboards where needed.

Required Skills

Product & Player Understanding

• Strong product sense with the ability to reason about player experience, engagement, and frustration.
• Ability to translate design intent and game experience into measurable hypotheses and analyses.

Analytics & Experimentation

• Strong analytical coding skills in Python or R.
• Excellent SQL skills and experience working with large-scale player data.
• Solid understanding of A/B testing, experimental design, and statistical inference.
• Experience combining experimental results with observational analysis.
• Ability to define tracking requirements and build data models and dashboards.

Modeling & Problem Solving

• Ability to systematically break down complex game systems into solvable analytical problems.
• Experience with simulation, optimization, or algorithmic approaches.

Communication & Collaboration

• Ability to influence decisions through clear storytelling, visualization, and data-driven reasoning.
• Capability to work iteratively and cross-functionally with product managers, game designers, and engineers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with game difficulty balancing, progression systems, or virtual economies.
• Background in behavioral psychology, economics, or game theory.
• Experience in the games industry or other large-scale consumer products.
• Familiarity with large-scale experimentation platforms and live-operated products.

About King

King is a leading interactive entertainment company for the mobile world with more than 20 years of history. The company delivers iconic games including the Candy Crush franchise and Farm Heroes Saga, serving approximately 200 million monthly active players. King is part of Microsoft and maintains offices in Stockholm, Malmö, London, Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Malta. The company mission is to "Make the World Playful" through curiosity, passion for games, and respect for players.