Senior Network Programmer

Decentraland • Full-time • Remote (Remote - Worldwide) • 1w ago

The Platform

Decentraland is a pioneering virtual world where the boundaries of imagination and technology blend seamlessly. Built on the Unity engine, our platform streams and renders a vast, continuous environment filled with diverse, user-generated content. As avatars explore this immersive landscape, they encounter new creations daily, from games and puzzles to scenes and artworks—all crafted by our vibrant community of creators.

Our platform goes beyond traditional gaming experiences. Users can attend live music events, conferences, exhibitions, dance parties, and more, all within a richly detailed metaverse. Decentraland started as a proof-of-concept for digital real estate ownership on the blockchain but has evolved into an ever-expanding world where anything is possible. Join us as we continue to push the boundaries of what a virtual world can be.

Check it out at: https://decentraland.org/

What are we looking for?

We are a group of contributors to the Decentraland ecosystem and are actively seeking a Senior Network Programmer to help build and optimize the networking layer for our large-scale social virtual world. Our ideal candidate is excited about creating real-time communication solutions for a massive user base, has a generalist mindset, and brings extensive background in the gaming industry. They should also approach challenging problems with an open attitude and curiosity.

Responsibilities

Working closely with our technical architect and senior engineers o design, implement, and maintain robust client-server architectures supporting real-time multiplayer experiences.
Develop custom protocols or integrate existing libraries to handle real-time communication with minimal latency and overhead
Profile and optimize network code to efficiently handle large numbers of concurrent players.
Collaborate on strategies for load balancing, sharding, and distributed computing to ensure a seamless user experience.
Work closely with other engineers, designers, and content creators to ensure the network layer meets creative and technical requirements.
Identify and address latency, security, and scalability issues, ensuring a stable and secure environment for users.
Guide and mentor other developers, participate in code reviews, and promote best practices in network engineering.
Contribute to the entire production cycle by offering ideas, improvements, and solutions that drive quality and innovation.

Required Skills

Proven background in developing and optimizing multiplayer networking solutions for real-time, large-scale network infrastructure
Proven experience integrating multiplayer into existing codebases
Solid understanding of low-level networking concepts (TCP/UDP, packet structures, bandwidth usage, client-side prediction / reconciliation, lag compensation, zone transitions / Server Handoffs etc.).
Experience with C# and Unity’s ecosystem, especially working across custom back-end solutions with Unity clients.
Hands-on experience analyzing and improving network throughput, latency, and resource usage.
Familiarity with tools for debugging and performance testing in large-scale, multiplayer environments.
Experience working with Git, Perforce, Mercurial, or similar systems for version control and collaboration.

Desirable Skills

Experience with TypeScript and WebRTC
Familiarity with modern cloud infrastructures (AWS, GCP, Azure) and CI/CD pipelines for automated builds and testing.
Familiarity with other game engines (Unreal, CryEngine, Godot) or custom engines, focusing on network layers.
Knowledge of C, C++, or Rust for performance-critical network code.
Experience setting up or contributing to CI/CD pipelines to streamline builds and deployments.