Magic: The Gathering publisher Wizards of the Coast is looking for a narrative designer intern, according to a Hasbro job posting spotted on February 12. This 11-week course offers the chance to “work closely with the Worldbuilding Team on a variety of projects and products”. While the job description doesn’t directly say which of Wizards’ major IPs you could be working on, it does list knowledge of MTG as a desirable trait for applicants.
Hasbro’s job description promises “full time hours” with a pay range between $26 and $29 per hour. The narrative designer intern will shadow the narrative lead and other creative leads, contributing to worldbuilding, art briefs, and game design ideas. They’ll also get to write card names and flavor text for MTG cards, as well as take part in playtesting.
The internship takes place between June 9 and August 22, 2025. Candidates must be enrolled in “an accredited, degree-seeking program pursuing a major in Creative Writing, English Literature, Game Design/Interactive Media or equivalent major with at least one quarter or semester left after August 2025”. The role is based at Wizards’ HQ in Renton, Washington, so you naturally need to be able to work in the US.
Wizards of the Coast’s ideal candidate is a serious nerd – not just for MTG, but also for media, pop culture, sci-fi, fantasy, and fiction. In slightly more corporate terms, a strong applicant is also described as having “proactive communication and organization skills”, as well as “a bias toward action and eagerness to iterate on ideas collaboratively”.
The job posting is also keen to stress that applicants should be interested in developing inclusive stories. “On the Worldbuilding creative team, we believe diversity of experience is fundamental to creating broadly accessible and fun experiences and games for all of our players”, says the job listing. “We encourage everyone to consider being a part of our team.”
The narrative designer intern will be joining Wizards’ worldbuilding team at an interesting time, to say the least. The narrative side of Magic: The Gathering has seen plenty of upheaval lately.
Magic is releasing more Universes Beyond sets than ever, which means a large chunk of its narrative involves adapting existing IPs rather than expanding the in-universe world of Magic. Wargamer’s own Matt Bassil even speculates that, unless Tarkir Dragonstorm does well, Wizards could give up on in-universe sets altogether.
Plus, when an MTG set does take place in the official universe, it’s often themed around a gimmick rather than serious storytelling. Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson recently criticized the TCG’s narrative for just this reason.
Basically, this internship is likely to involve a fair bit more than devising backstories for MTG planeswalkers or MTG commanders. We’d love to be a fly on the wall and learn how it all works behind the scenes.
For more Magic updates, be sure to follow Wargamer on Google News. We can keep you up-to-date with the MTG release schedule, as well as the latest on MTG Arena decks and MTG Arena codes.
Source: Wargamer
