About the game

Hopetown is a narrative-first RPG inspired by Disco Elysium, set in a decaying town haunted by both ghosts and memories. You play a washed-up ghost hunter unravelling disappearances, a crumbling world, and your own haunted past.

Blending surrealism, dialogue-driven gameplay, and psychological exploration, Hopetown is being built by key talent from some of the most celebrated narrative games of the past decade, including Martin Luiga (founder of the ZA/UM Cultural Movement), Lenval Brown (narrator of Disco Elysium), Piotr Sobolewski (former CEO of Knights of Unity), and Paweł Błaszczak (composer on The Witcher and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt).

We are currently moving into early production, building out the foundational systems, characters, and mechanics that will define the experience. With your help, we can transform Hopetown from a great CRPG into an unforgettable one, a living, breathing universe of stories, surprises, and challenges.

About Us

Longdue is a studio founded to create rich, emotional, story-first games that challenge players’ expectations. We’re a remote team of writers, artists, designers, and engineers, bringing together talent from across the industry to push the boundaries of narrative-driven RPGs.

We are still in the early stages of production, meaning new team members will have a real, tangible impact on the world we are building. We believe that extraordinary games can emerge from small, focused teams, teams that value creativity, openness, and care over convention.

About the Role

We’re looking for a Narrative Lead with both creative and production instincts — someone who can shape Hopetown’s story while helping to build the systems and structures that make great narrative work possible.
You’ll lead a small team of writers through the early stages of development, balancing storytelling vision with clear planning, coordination, and delivery. You’ll collaborate closely with design, production, and tech to align narrative goals with development milestones and to ensure the narrative team’s output fits smoothly into the broader pipeline.
This role sits at the intersection of creativity and operations — ideal for someone who loves story but also thrives on clarity, structure, and collaboration.

Add to What You’ll Be Doing:

• Act as the bridge between the narrative and production teams — helping to translate creative goals into actionable tasks and timelines.
• Contribute to production planning by identifying dependencies, scheduling narrative deliverables, and flagging risks early.
• Help implement and maintain project tracking tools and documentation for narrative content (using Basecamp, YouTrack, etc.).
• Support cross-disciplinary communication and ensure smooth integration of narrative elements into level design and gameplay systems.

Requirements

MUST-HAVE REQUIREMENTS

• 2+ years leading or managing a narrative or writing team of at least four people, ideally across different disciplines or remote setups.
• 1+ year of experience using Articy, Inkle, or comparable tools for narrative design and implementation.
• Proven ability to plan, organize, and deliver narrative work within production milestones — experience coordinating pipelines, tracking progress, and aligning with design or production teams.
• 2+ years of experience in worldbuilding for narrative or game projects.
• 1+ year writing or editing branching dialogue for interactive fiction or RPGs.
• Proven experience writing emotionally resonant, character-driven stories.
• Excellent communication, documentation, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
  

Nice to Have

• Experience shipping or contributing to a narrative-driven or RPG title, especially within a small or startup-style team.
• Familiarity with production and project management tools (e.g. Basecamp, YouTrack, or similar).
• A working understanding of how narrative integrates with design, art, and gameplay systems.
• Strong familiarity with Disco Elysium–like, dialogue-heavy storytelling structures.
• A creative and adaptable mindset suited to an early-stage, highly collaborative studio environment.
• A love for narrative experimentation, psychology, and surreal or philosophical themes.

Benefits

Why Join Us

Creative Freedom: We foster an environment where your unique voice and vision can shape a groundbreaking RPG.

Thought-Provoking Project: Help create a game that challenges conventions, offers a deep philosophical experience, and invites players to explore not only a mysterious world but also the depths of the human psyche.

Flexible Working: We are a remote-first studio, offering you the freedom to work from wherever inspiration strikes.