Big Huge Games

Big Huge Games, developer of the award-winning real-time strategy games Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends, is expanding into a multi-team, multi-genre, next-gen company. We're looking for a creative, talented, and motivated animator to take part in the creation of our unannounced Wii title. This is an opportunity to work on an original IP for the Wii, bringing to life some truly quirky, fun, and unique characters.

Responsibilities:

The Character Animator will work closely with the Art Director and Animation Lead from project inception to completion and will play a major role in establishing and maintaining the animation style. Major responsibilities include:

Create jaw-droppingly-fun-and-unique animations of characters, creatures, and other objects for both gameplay and cinematic sequences.
Have an understanding of the implementation of game animations and what it takes to make characters "come to life."
Learn proprietary tools quickly and work within a complex asset development pipeline.
Provide feedback to character modelers so that animation considerations are taken into account.
Participate in defining tools and art production pipeline.
Maintain awareness of the latest animation technologies and tools.

Ideal candidates will possess:

Extensive working knowledge of 3D Max and Character Studio (experience in MotionBuilder a plus, Maya animation experience is also of interest)
An understanding of clear facial and body expressions, exaggerated motion, and fundamental "cartoon" animation techniques
A variety of animation experience (e.g. bipeds, quadrupeds, various forms of combat, floating or flying monsters, etc.)
A solid understanding of the Character Set-up process (skeletons, IK, FK, facial animation system, constraints, and other systems used for character animation)
Experience working with mocap data a plus.
Solid understanding of game character development processes for the Wii, limitations and dependencies

Preference to applicants with:

Previous experience in console and/or PC development (previous Wii experience a big plus)
Experience animating quirky, highly stylized game characters

In addition to competitive salaries, Big Huge Games offers an extremely attractive benefits package, including:

401(k) plan
Paid vacation, sick leave, personal days and holidays
Comprehensive health insurance plan for you and your dependents
Employer funded life insurance and disability coverage

Contact Info:

Big Huge's preferred method of viewing your artwork and resume is by email submission of your portfolio website link to greatartjob@bighugegames.com. We encourage applicants to attach 3 samples of their strongest animation work (small MPG files preferred). Limit total of attachments to 3mb or less. Note in the subject line "Character Animator (Wii)". In addition to the attachments, links to work samples on YouTube or similar online video sites is also acceptable. Please do not send items via US Mail.

NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.

About Big Huge Games:

We're a team of over 100 game developers - including a 28 person art department. Team skills are as important to us as technical skills and by sticking to this "core value," we've created a fun and energetic workplace with a passion for AAA game development. Some of our most successful games include Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends, of which the latter received Gamespy's 2006 Special Achievement in Art Direction Award and has been lauded by the press as "A playable piece of art..." (Game Revolution) and "...the best-looking RTS I've ever played" (PC Gamer). Another recent success has been the acquisition of Big Huge Games by the videogame publisher THQ in 2008 - a natural step in the evolution of the business, bringing in even more resources and allowing us to make even better (and better looking!) videogames. We're now hard at work on several new and as-yet-unannounced titles for the Xbox360, Playstation 3, Wii, and PC.

We're proud of our creative environment which includes fun office perks such as...

Pool table
Ping pong table
Full-size bar (modeled after a local Irish Pub)
Arcade machine (100's of classics installed)
Free drinks (sodas, tea, and freshly ground coffee via two fancy latte machines)
Biometric hand-scanner (Physical office keys? That's so twentieth century.)
Console gaming area (PS3, 360, and Wii)
Continuously updated Game Library stocked with 100's of titles available for borrow anytime
150 gallon saltwater aquarium