Engineering Ic interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about your most technically impactful project on a game.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why gaming engineering - and why the firm's studio vs another game studio or non-game tech?
5. Which engineering area would you want to focus on, and why?
6. Why the firm?
7. How would you describe the firm's engineering organisation + tech stack in your own words?
8. How does engineering actually drive value at a game studio like the firm?

Technical concepts to master

• C++ + memory + cache + data-oriented design

  AoS vs SoA (array of structs vs struct of arrays) · Custom allocators (pool / arena / stack / linear) · Move semantics + RAII + value types · False sharing + cache lines

• Engine architecture + game loop + threading

  The game loop - fixed vs variable timestep · Threading model - main + render + job system · ECS (entity-component-system) · Asset streaming + memory budgeting

• Graphics + GPU pipeline + rendering

  GPU pipeline stages · Deferred vs forward vs forward+ rendering · Draw-call cost + batching + instancing · Shadows + post-processing + temporal techniques

• Networking + multiplayer + live-ops

  Server-authoritative + client-side prediction + lag compensation · Deterministic lockstep + rollback · Tick rate + bandwidth + delta encoding · Live-ops + post-launch engineering

Practical drills

• You're building a 60fps third-person action game on console. Walk me through how you'd budget the 16.67 ms / frame across the major systems (gameplay, render, animation, physics, AI, audio, streaming) and identify where the perf risks live.
• Design the netcode stack for a 32-player competitive shooter on console + PC, target 60fps client + 60Hz server tick. Walk me through it.
• Overnight, a build dropped from a steady 60fps to 40fps on PS5. Walk me through how you'd diagnose + fix.

Smart-question anchors

• Engine + platform - engine maturity, platform mix, where the tech is heading
• Team + scope - team shape, what the role would own in 6-12 months, mentorship
• Perf culture - profiling discipline, perf budget enforcement, CI perf testing, frame-rate hold history
• Cross-discipline - working with design + art + animation + audio, decision-making process
• Live-ops + cert - patch cadence, cert experience, hotfix mechanics, postmortem culture

Sourced from

Jason Gregory - Game Engine Architecture (3rd ed.) · Mike Acton / Insomniac - Data-Oriented Design (CppCon 2014 + writings) · GDC Vault - graphics + engine + multiplayer programming talks · Glenn Fiedler - Gaffer on Games (networking for game programmers) · Real-Time Rendering (Akenine-Moller / Haines / Hoffman, 4th ed.) · Glassdoor + LevelsFYI + r/gamedev interview reports for engine / gameplay programmer roles