About the Hiring Team

Welcome to Lightspeed LA, the first U.S.-based, AAA game development studio for Tencent Games. Lightspeed LA is focused on building open-world games that emphasize an ambitious living world, sophisticated player-driven gameplay, and mature, thoughtful storytelling. We are developing the first in a series of genre-defining titles.

Why join Lightspeed LA?

For us, it's not only about the exciting, new AAA open world game we're developing but also about team values and studio culture. We foster an open and transparent environment where everyone feels comfortable providing constructive feedback about all aspects of our games.

● We encourage the showing of work that's still in progress.
● We don't attack or question unfinished work, we celebrate its promise.
● We have a No Blame Culture where we blame the problem, not the person.

This is a safe place to fail, and we don't view failure as a negative, but as the natural result of pushing boundaries and trying new things. We create together. We face Challenges Together. We succeed together.

What the Role Entails

Lightspeed LA is seeking a talented, Senior Gameplay Animator with a passion for pushing interactive performances to the next level. In this role, you will be collaborating with industry veterans to craft the highest quality animations in our AAA storytelling medium. The ideal candidate is a skilled animator, who has the creative and technical experience to craft move-sets and interactive animations that look and feel good in-game.

• Collaborate with game designers and programmers to craft high-quality performances that both look and feel amazing in the Unreal Engine.
• Take ownership of your animations. You are responsible for previz, mocap planning, clean-up, key-framing, implementation, playtesting, and iterate until it looks & feels terrific!
•  Proactively communicate with programmers, designers, artists, and writers to align your animations with mission objectives, gameplay intentions, art direction, and story.
• Willingness to explore ideas, change animations, and give/receive constructive feedback, 
• Be helpful to your team and contribute to maintaining a supportive and creative work environment. 

Who We Look For

• 7+ years of video game animation development experience.
• Have experience editing and animating with motion capture data in Maya.
• Have strong understanding of realistic body mechanics and performances.
• Have good sense for weight, timing, and style for your animations
• Good work ethic and a willingness to push the game animation quality bar.
• Have good understanding of cinematography and camera animation.
• Excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills
• Can learn new tools and techniques for animation implementation.
• Self-starter and innovative problem solver

Pluses:

• Shipped at least one AAA title
• Expert knowledge of Unreal Engine
• Experience with Motion Builder
• Expert knowledge of facial animation and lip-sync.
• Experience with Scripting
• Expert knowledge of weapon animations
• Expert knowledge of melee combat
• Experience with animal/creature animations
• Experience with motion-matching / pose-matching techniques.

Why Join Us?

Perks and Benefits:

Just some of the benefits of working with us here at our newly built studio in Irvine, CA.

● Free daily lunch
● Beverages, fresh fruit, and snacks
● 401k with employer match
● Monthly Cell phone bill reimbursement
● Financial wellness sessions
● Flexible spending account
● Team building and company outings
● Parental leave for new parents
● Company paid health insurance
● Life and disability insurance
● Employee assistance program
● Wellness training
● Travel insurance
● Preventive care

If the above sounds like you, or if you'd like to know more about the role, we'd love to hear from you to see if we might be a good fit for each other! Contact us for more information about this exciting opportunity.

Location State(s)

California

The base pay range for this position in the state(s) above is $89,640.0 to $186,840.0 per year. Actual pay is based on market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. A sign on payment, relocation package, and restricted stock units may be provided as part of the compensation package, as well as other medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the specific position offered.

Equal Employment Opportunity at Tencent

As an equal opportunity employer, we firmly believe that diverse voices fuel our innovation and allow us to better serve our users and the community. We foster an environment where every employee of Tencent feels supported and inspired to achieve individual and common goals.