A narrative designer is a role in contemporary video game development. Some studios use this title to describe game writer roles, or primarily writing positions; some use it to describe game content designer, level designer, cinematic designer, mission/quest designer, or even UX designer positions.
Responsibilities
There are no agreed-upon industry-wide definitions of what exactly comprise a narrative designer's responsibilities. These may include, but are not limited to:
Championing the story: ensuring that game features and elements across the development team are all helping to tell the same story
Writing scripts for cinematic cutscenes, voice-over, character dialogue, or combat barks
Writing in-game text elements such as quest journals, item descriptions, or tutorial pop-ups, and out-of-game text elements such as website text, trailer scripts, or marketing materials
Suggesting, designing, documenting, and/or implementing environmental storytelling elements from audio cues to art assets to UI stylistic decisions
Designing characters, including character biographies, art briefs, or casting sides if human actors will be used
Designing and documenting game worlds and settings
Designing, documenting, and implementing missions/quests, parts of levels, or instances
Supervising or working within the project's localisation or internationalization pipeline
Stephen Dinehart describes the core of a narrative design's job to be "...to champion story, craft compelling narrative elements, and define the systems through which they will be delivered to the player." Dinehart claims to have written the 'Narrative Designer' job position for THQ Canada dba Relic Entertainment on the initiative of Tarrnie Williams, Executive Producer, in 2006 to "champion story" based on his work on Medal of Honor. The role was eventually offered to and accepted by Dinehart.
Narrative Designers and Game Writers
Some studios may use the title of "narrative designer" as an alternative name for game writers due to their similarity in practice; however, as both can work on a wide variety of games with different sets of requirements, the roles' volatility could make them just as different as they are similar at times. Out of the many comparisons that can be drawn between the two, here are two examples: acceptance of a brief detailing what's to be expected of the writer's work in regards to a game they're to work on, and collaboration with a team likely not only to contain other writers, but workers in other facets of game production.
Requirements
The requirements of a narrative designer may vary, similar to their responsibilities. However, some remain constant, such as a few discussed by Dinehart in regards to narrative designer positions offered at THQ, Monolith, and Microsoft :
Communication and collaboration skills.
At least 3-6 years experience in game writing, narrative design, cinematic design, or in the game industry in general.
The capability to function well and multi-task under pressure.
Ample writing ability as well as the capacity to illicit player emotion through their story-telling.
