From Sony Bend to Magic Leap to Double Fine, here are just a few of the many great job openings you'll find over on Gamasutra's industry-leading job board!
September 2, 2016
The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!
Here are just a few of the many, many positions being advertised right now.
Location: Bend, Oregon
Sony Bend Studio, the creator of Days Gone, Syphon Filter and Uncharted: Golden Abyss, is looking for top talent to join our in passionate team in creating a new AAA PlayStation 4 exclusive.
Help drive and contribute to the technical development of characters and animation for AAA products with a specialized focus on creating character rigging methods, animation tools, and pipelines.
Responsibilities:
Develop character rigs and skeletons that meet the technical limitations of game engines while insuring the characters movements look as realistic as possible
Develop and implement skinning methods to achieve realistic deformation for faces, bodies, and clothes, including the creation of tools and scripts to assist in completing these tasks quickly and efficiently during production
Develop animation tools to assist in the creation of character animation and motion capture clean up, using layers, blends, FK and IK setups, etc.
Develop tools and methods for synchronizing character animations with object animations in game
Develop methods for animating character attachments like props, cloth, and hair procedurally and through baking out animations from character rigs
Work directly with animation programmers to implement all in-game animations defined by the game design and within technical limitations
Take on a leadership role within the art team. This entails: contributing to schedule management needs, providing guidance to support the diplomatic resolution of complex problems, providing input on team performance reviews, facilitating career coaching, and training and mentoring other technical artists in developing advanced technical skills and artistic abilities
Keep aware of industry trends and technical techniques, evaluate competitive products, and determine areas we can improve or innovate. Communicate innovations in a convincing way and collaborate with the leadership team to develop plans for implementation
Provide input on the technical methods used to achieve the artistic goals and vision through all phases of the game development cycle from pre-production through final product release. This entails ensuring all animated events are of the highest technical quality and uphold the integrity of the games design and artistic vision as a whole
Serve as a technical resource for all phases of production and other studio art and technical needs. This includes, but is not limited to: conducting general research, developing cutting-edge tools and techniques, and testing new systems or tools. Provide training, transmit industry related information, and convey concerns in a constructive way by providing solutions to those concerns
Independently undertake research and information gathering prior to the commencement of a new task to ensure game design needs, reference materials, artistic direction, and technological considerations are all effectively managed to meet the defined goals
Qualifications
Highly proficient in Mel scripting, object rigging, and skinning both mechanical and organic assets. Some knowledge of Python, Java, C++, and max scripting is a plus.
Highly proficient in the use of 3D animation software to create animation rigs, skin characters, and do animation testing. This requires mastery of 3D software and the ability to analyze photos, videos, and concept art reference to help achieve the desired quality of character animation and deformation
Knowledge of Havok for rag doll, cloth, and hair setup is a plus
Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
Strong time management and project management skills
Strong data management skills, with the ability to manage and track large amounts of data as they go through the art pipeline with attention to naming conventions, directory structures, and other processes
Extensive portfolio with examples of current, hands-on work, including: object animation (both mechanical and organic), use of Havok and other physics-based tools, and tools and scripts used to assist in the creation of object animation, rigging, and setup
Some previous or next-gen video game platform experience is desirable (PS3, PS4, Xbox 360)
Minimum 5 years’ game art production or film-related experience required; 8-10 years’ preferred
Minimum 2 years’ post-high school education or training required; Master’s degree and/or professional certification preferred
Does this sound like a job you're interested in? Apply here!
Location: San Francisco, CA
Look, Tim said I could basically write whatever I want here, so I’m going to be honest with you.
Being a level designer is an amazing job—you get to assemble, populate, and orchestrate a tiny world, full of its own inhabitants, stories, and amazing places to discover. You get to play with a huge toy box of models, characters, enemies, objects, and interactions to construct a pocket universe and, often, you get to help make a bunch of new toys that are needed for the fantastic ideas that you and the rest of your level team came up with. You get to make moments and places that people will remember for the rest of their lives.
At Double Fine, we’re just getting started on Psychonauts 2 and we’re giving level designers the biggest toy box imaginable to play with—the HUMAN MIND. We’re looking for a Lead Level Designer with wild creativity and technical acumen to help us imagine the best, most inventive, most mind-bending mental landscapes possible & manage a small Level Design team to design, layout, build, script, test, polish, and ship them.
Responsibilities:
Serve as the project’s key expert and advocate for the art and craft of 3D level design.
Bring creative inspiration, new ideas, process, and problem solving to the project’s levels and overall design through inspiration and expertise from inside and outside of games.
Collaborate with the Creative Director, Lead Designer, and other disciplines to set, document, and communicate the core direction, design values, and quality bar for all level design on the project and ensure these are in harmony with the project’s creative goals, narrative, and themes.
Collaborate with other leads to design, document, and administer the level design workflow, including defining key developmental milestones, interdepartmental approvals, technical standards, and design metrics and standards. Help to scope and schedule level design work and take direct ownership of the timeliness and quality of the final work.
Use a variety of written, visual, and interactive tools to communicate and document design direction, new ideas, core principles, and critical feedback in a clear, actionable, goal-oriented way to other disciplines, all all levels of experience.
Direct management of the Level Design staff, including hiring, career development, tasking and scheduling. Particular focus on strong mentorship, building trust, empowering creative expression, and creating an environment that values continuous improvement in communication, process, and creative output.
Work directly on an individual level team to create polished, memorable, narrative-driven 3D game levels to serve as “pilot content” demonstrating the quality level and direction for the rest of the game.
Lead or participate in interdisciplinary groups to design, implement, and polish level-specific gameplay features, such as unique player mechanics, bosses, and level-specific enemies.
Drive internal feedback process for levels through formal reviews and internal / external playtests. Digest and prioritize feedback into actionable plans for improvement.
Act as a primary client for internal level design tools. Work with programmers to design, test, and drive tools and workflow improvements to empower the Level Design staff.
Maintain an expert level knowledge of the current state and trends in regards to project genre, tools, and competing games. Conduct regular research into past and present games and game productions to inform current project goals and process.
Requirements:
Desires in a highly-iterative, collaborative, creatively-lead development environment.
Experience and interest in working on narrative-driven games, with a strong focus in interactive / visual storytelling through level design and gameplay.
At least five years of game development experience across at least two shipped titles as a level designer.
Demonstrated proficiency with one or more current 3D game engines, scripting languages, and 3D authoring/editing tools.
Deep understanding of the game market and ability to think about, dissect , and discuss games from a critical perspective.
Advanced written English and creative writing skills
Able to work autonomously, alone or in groups, when empowered with clear direction and trust.
Solid, demonstrated ability designing, tuning, and balancing gameplay and levels for current generation console games.
Demonstrated ability to define and drive design process in a group setting, including giving, receiving, and internalizing critical feedback, running creative meetings, and remaining open to new ideas and challenges.
Pluses:
Prior experience in a lead / management role.
Background or experience in fine art, writing, music, or other creative discipline.
Experience as a level designer on 3D platform games.
Experience as a designer on narrative-driven games.
Experience with Unreal 4 on a shipped game.
Experience with high level programming languages.
Due to the immediate nature of this position and current government employment-visa sponsorship restrictions, we are unable to consider foreign candidates.
Sound good? Apply now!
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Magic Leap is an eclectic group of visionaries, rocket scientists, wizards, and gurus from the fields of film, robotics, visualization, software, computing, and user experience.
We are growing quickly, and this is the time to get on board and play a role in shaping the way people will be interacting with the world tomorrow.
Job Description
We are looking for an exceptionally talented 3D Artist to join our growing team in New Zealand and help us build the ultimate robot disintegrating science fiction experience. This role will be hired as part of the collaboration between Weta Workshop and Magic Leap.
The ideal candidate will have experience modeling and texturing assets for a diverse visual range of environments and requirements, as well as a solid grasp of form, color and light in relation to 3D art assets. You should be well-versed in industry standard development tools such Maya and Photoshop, and any additional skills you possess in areas such as asset animation/rigging, concept art and game level set-dressing would also be a highly regarded.
We are making something incredible; Do you have the art skills we need to pull it off?
Responsibilities
Conceptualise, prototype and create a wide range of visually compelling, engine performant 3D assets for Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders
Work directly with level teams to populate and dress game levels and story sets within nontraditional spaces and configurations
Take high-level written or verbal concepts and be able to visualise them quickly and clearly
Actively participate in frequent reviews, retrospectives, and task planning sessions
Respond to art asset requests from external teams and studios
Help maintain the current game asset library, and provide optimisation suggestion where applicable
Requirements
Expert knowledge of Photoshop and Maya, with experience in modeling and texturing assets for games
Ability to conceptualise thematically consistent assets and take them from initial concept right through to in-engine implementation
Working proficiency with Unity, Substance Suite, ZBrush and basic C# scripting knowledge would be beneficial, but is not essential
Additional Information
All your information will be kept confidential according to Equal Employment Opportunities guidelines.
Interested? Apply now!
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