Senior Cinematic Animator - Contract

Playground Games is seeking a Senior Cinematic Animator to join the Fable team in Leamington Spa. This role involves producing top-tier cutscenes and bespoke animation content, driving creative vision from previsualization to final polish, and enhancing narrative through cinematic storytelling. The animator will capture, solve, retarget, and polish mocap data, iterate on cinematic layouts, and implement animations seamlessly into the proprietary engine. This is a contract, hybrid position requiring expertise in facial and body performance and a passion for storytelling.

Must Have

• Produce top-tier cutscenes and bespoke animation content
• Drive creative vision from previsualization through final polish
• Enhance narrative through cinematic storytelling
• Ensure animations are seamlessly integrated within the proprietary engine
• Capture, solve, retarget, and polish facial and full-body mocap data for cutscenes
• Iterate rapidly on cinematic layout to enhance visual storytelling
• Work closely with the Lead, Director, and cinematic team to incorporate feedback
• Implement cinematics into the proprietary engine
• Impressive animation portfolio showcasing high-quality, realistic facial and body animations
• 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

Good to Have

• Experience in cinematography
• Experience in editing
• Experience in game engine implementation

Perks & Benefits

• Relocation assistance available for qualified candidates

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 are excited to be rebooting the much-loved Fable franchise and are expanding our diverse team to create a new classic in the action RPG genre.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

As a Senior Cinematics 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 contract 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