Senior Gameplay Animator

Epic Games; Montreal; On-site; CAD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Epic Games is seeking a passionate Gameplay Animator for an exciting collaboration with Disney. This role involves creating original animations that ground gameplay in realistic physics, collaborating across teams to deliver best-in-class animation experiences. Ideal candidates will showcase a strong animation reel and have expertise in Unreal Engine 5.

Benefits

100% health benefits for employees and dependents

Retirement savings plan with employer match

Free therapy and coaching through Modern Health

Qualifications

• Expertise in gameplay animation with a strong background in stylized keyframe animation.
• Passion for gaming and understanding of player psychology.
• Strong animation reel showcasing expertise in character and creature animation.

Responsibilities

• Create character-specific animations in Unreal Engine using Control Rig toolset.
• Collaborate across disciplines to enhance animation style and implementation.
• Refine animations to achieve the best quality within timeline.

Skills

Gameplay animation

Stylized keyframe animation

User experience fundamentals

Game design principles

Tools

Maya

Unreal Engine 5

Job description

WHAT MAKES US EPIC?

At the core of Epic’s success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it’s building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we’re always innovating.

Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We’re constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.

ART What We Do

Push your artistic talent to the limit on a team of world-class environment, character and concept artists who strive to innovate and inspire.

What You'll Do

The Walt Disney Company and Epic Games are collaborating on an all-new games and entertainment universe. In addition to being a world-class games experience, this new persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, and engage with content, characters, and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar, and more. Players, gamers, and fans of all kinds will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love. Come join us in creating the future of interactive entertainment. Epic Games is searching for Gameplay Animators to join our team to work on our collaboration with Disney. You'll create original animation with a strong emphasis on style and appeal that's grounded in realistic world physics. A great understanding is needed of the fundamentals of animation and how they relate to game animation and the ability to implement animations in the Unreal 5 game engine using our animation blueprint system. A strong sense of gameplay feel and timing in relation to game design principles.

In this role, you will

• Create character-specific animations, such as gameplay animations in Unreal Engine, using our Control Rig toolset
• Take animation from initial concept through implementation in Unreal Engine 5 using our animation blueprint system
• Drive collaboration across disciplines, including Production, Design, Technical Animation, Technical Design, and implementation to help drive the style and feel of best-in-class animation
• Collaborate with leads in a dailies-style critique environment, find optimal solutions, and address basic issues as they arise
• Refine animations and gameplay feel as needed to get the best quality animation within the timeline

What we're looking for

• Expertise in gameplay animation, ideally with a strong background in stylized keyframe animation and a proven track record to deliver exaggerated gameplay character animations.
• Maintain a detailed understanding of current and emerging animation technologies (Unreal Engine, Motion Matching, State machines, State graphs, etc.)
• Passion for gaming and a strong understanding of game design principles, player psychology, and user experience fundamentals
• Knowledge of game, narrative design, and 3Cs as it pertains to gameplay animation
• A strong animation reel showing expertise in key-framed character and creature animation
• Relevant experience in both gameplay and cinematic animation
• Good instincts for realistic and stylized motions
• Familiarity with Maya and Unreal Engine 5 art pipeline
• Understanding of modeling, skinning, and rigging
• Experience working with Motion Capture is a plus

EPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFE

We pay 100% for benefits for both employees and dependents and offer coverage for supplemental medical, dental, vision, critical illness, telemedicine, Life and AD&D, long term disability insurance as well as weekly indemnity (short term disability) and a retirement savings plan with a competitive employer match. In addition to the EAP (employee assistance program), we also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents.

ABOUT US

Epic Games spans across 25 countries with 46 studios and 4,500+ employees globally. For over 25 years, we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.

Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!

Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy here.

Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found here.