Principal Animation Artist - Unpublished R&D Product

Riot Games•Los Angeles, CA

51d

About The Position

As a member of the Animation team, you'll bring characters to life through strong body mechanics and classic animation principles. You'll create high-quality gameplay animations that showcase weight, anticipation, impact, and polish. A standout reel will demonstrate a range of locomotion cycles, gameplay actions, and a clear mastery of animation fundamentals. As a Principal Animation Artist, you'll own all aspects of animation development for core gameplay. You'll collaborate closely with designers and artists to expand our content pipeline, develop new features and technologies, and ensure animations strike the right balance between readability and AAA-quality presentation. You'll also be expected to work independently, making style-aligned decisions that push the craft forward and breathe life into iconic characters for players. For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role!

Requirements

8+ years of professional experience working in animation within the gaming industry
5+ years of professional experience working in Maya
3+ years of experience working directly and implementing in Unreal Engine

Nice To Haves

Strong sense of game design and gameplay
Strong pre-vis and storytelling animation skills

Responsibilities

Create animation assets at production level quality
Work closely with design and create animations that meet the specific gameplay requirements
Recognize areas of opportunity for animation to enhance gameplay
Meet project deadlines in a timely manner without compromising artistic integrity
Consistently communicate with the team by giving and receiving feedback, directing next steps, and providing clear goals and outcomes to the team
Motivate and develop the team members and act as a mentor in terms of technical/artistic aspects

Benefits

Riot focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and other perks such as flexible work schedules.
We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and a 401k with company match.
Check out our benefits pages for more information.

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