Principal Gameplay Engineer (Animation)

About Bad Robot Games

Founded by Bad Robot (Lost, Cloverfield, Westworld, Star Wars, Star Trek), we at Bad Robot Games are on a mission to continually reinvent how stories are played. We are a remote-first games company represented by a diverse team, which empowers us to make the kinds of games in which all players can see themselves. Working closely with our colleagues at Bad Robot Productions, our projects unite our extensive network of games, TV, and film industry talent to create original IPs, expansive worlds and tell new stories across all media platforms which are as fun to watch as they are to play.

Role Overview

Bad Robot Games is looking for a Principal Gameplay Engineer who has experience with animation engineering and is excited to trailblaze innovative gameplay and demonstrate technical excellence across all aspects of development. Working in a highly collaborative, focused, and iterative team environment, we are looking for a seasoned engineer who can partner with design, art, audio, and production to build best in class animation and gameplay systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect and implement animation and gameplay systems with long-term stability and scalability in mind
• Design and own core character animation pipelines including locomotion, combat, and cinematic systems in close collaboration with animators and designers
• Prototype and iterate rapidly on features, embracing critical feedback and applying it constructively
• Advocate for quality, stability, performance, and appropriate prioritization across the project
• Coordinate efforts across products to encourage code and feature sharing
• Bring technical excellence across multiple features and platforms, optimizing and fixing bugs in existing animation and gameplay systems
• Collaborate across disciplines with design, art, audio, and production to problem-solve and generate new ideas
• Proactively identify opportunities and challenges before they become blockers
• Participate in playtesting and provide hands-on feedback as the project progresses

Key Qualifications

• 10+ years of game development experience with experience in animation engineering
• At least one shipped title on PlayStation and PC, ideally multiple
• Strong C++ skills with the ability to architect gameplay mechanics, animation systems, and tools
• Proficiency with multiple tools in Unreal Engine's animation tech stack, including: Anim Blueprints, Animation Montages, Blend Spaces, State Machines, Anim Notifies and Anim Notify States, Linked Anim Graphs, Linked Anim Instances, Mirroring, Inertialization, and Control Rig
• Solid understanding of skeletal mesh rigging, retargeting, and IK within Unreal Engine
• Experience implementing various animation synchronization methods, including time-warping and sync markers
• Deep understanding of the difference between the Update and Evaluate phases of an AnimInstance
• Comfortable with local vs. component space in animation calculations and blends, with an understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of each
• Deep familiarity with the pipelines, tools, and processes of creating, building, shipping, and supporting live games
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with a track record of inspiring teams
• A passion for multiplayer online gaming and a rich history of playing across a wide variety of game genres
• All of our roles require up to 10% air travel. Examples include Studio/Team Offsites, Team/Studio Events, etc.

Bonuses

• Experience with the Unreal Motion Matching / Pose Search system
• Procedural animation experience
• Experience with Python to integrate tools within Unreal
• Experience developing or maintaining custom Anim Modifiers in Unreal
• Knowledge of or experience with Unreal's Anim Next
• Experience implementing locomotion systems
• History with Physics Assets, physical animation profiles, and physical animation more generally
• Online multiplayer game development experience
• Experience working on a live service game
• Strong math skills