Senior Cinematic Animator

1 Month ago • 5-8 Years • Animation

Job Summary

Job Description

Playground Games seeks a Senior Cinematic Animator to create top-tier cutscenes and animation content for their Fable team. Responsibilities include capturing, solving, and polishing mocap data for believable performances; iterating on cinematic layouts to enhance storytelling; collaborating with the team to incorporate feedback; and implementing cinematics into their proprietary engine. The ideal candidate possesses extensive experience with mocap and hand-keyed animation, exceptional storytelling skills, and proficiency in industry-standard animation software. This permanent, hybrid role is based in Royal Leamington Spa with relocation assistance available.
Must have:
  • High-quality animation portfolio (AAA experience preferred)
  • 5+ years animation experience (min 2 published titles)
  • Proficient in body, facial, and camera animation
  • Motion capture cleanup and industry-standard software
  • Strong storytelling and creative skills
Good to have:
  • Cinematography, editing, or game engine implementation experience
Perks:
  • Relocation assistance
  • Hybrid work model

Job Details

Description

Playground Games is looking for a Senior Cinematic Animator to join our talented Fable team here in Leamington Spa 

ABOUT US: 

As a first-party Xbox Game Studio, we are passionate about making genre-defining games that are accessible, beautiful, and, most of all, fun. We're expanding our diverse team to create outstanding experiences in the gaming industry. 

ABOUT THE ROLE:  

As a Senior Cinematic Animator, you'll work closely with our cinematics team to produce top-tier cutscenes and bespoke animation content. You will drive creative vision from previsualization through final polish, enhance narrative through cinematic storytelling, and ensure your animations are seamlessly integrated within our proprietary engine. 

We’re looking for an expert animator who is passionate about storytelling, excels at conveying emotion through performance, and has a deep understanding of both facial and body performance. The ideal candidate has extensive experience with motion capture and hand-keyed animation, as well as familiarity with implementing cinematics in-engine. 

This is a permanent position at our state-of-the-art facilities in Royal Leamington Spa, operating under a hybrid work model. Relocation assistance is available for qualified candidates. 

WHAT YOU'LL DO:  

  • Capture, solve, retarget, and polish both facial and full-body mocap data for cutscenes, ensuring high-quality, believable performances. 
  • Iterate rapidly on cinematic layout to enhance visual storytelling, refine pacing, and support narrative impact. 
  • Work closely with the Lead, Director, and cinematic team to incorporate feedback and align animations with the overall creative vision. 
  • Implement cinematics into our proprietary engine, ensuring seamless integration with gameplay and overall flow. 

WHAT YOU'LL BRING:  

  • Impressive animation portfolio showcasing high-quality, realistic facial and body animations across multiple projects, ideally from AAA titles. A link to the portfolio website or an attachment with your CV is acceptable.  
  • Five or more years in animation, with a proven track record on at least two published titles. 
  • Proficient in body, facial and camera animation, motion capture clean-up and industry-standard animation software. 
  • A genuine enthusiasm for video games, narrative, and the creative process. 
  • Experience in cinematography, editing, or game engine implementation is highly desirable and will set you apart.  

This is a fantastic opportunity to make world-class games with an established, talented, and collaborative team at one of the industry’s most exciting first-party game studios.  

Playground Games is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity and inclusion fuels creativity. We are dedicated to creating a safe, comfortable and welcoming working environment.   

We strive to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices of our team members. It drives our innovation and connects us closer to our players. We are committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion across age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.  

At Playground Games we recognise the importance of self-development, career progression, well-being and retention of our colleagues. We celebrate difference and welcome everyone to join us and to be themselves at work. 

If you require any reasonable accommodation to apply for this position, please contact us on recruitment@playground-games.com 

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About The Company

Playground Games was established in 2010, bringing together some of the most experienced and talented developers from the UK industry, with the vision to create genre-defining titles for a global audience. Since then, we’ve created five critically-acclaimed, award-winning hits; our Horizon games have garnered more than one hundred awards and have been played by many millions of fans. 


Today, Playground has two world-class studios in Leamington Spa. In our original HQ, we continue to support and grow the huge, vibrant Horizon community. In our new studio on the other side of town, we are excited to be developing Fable, a new beginning for the legendary franchise.

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