Principal Gameplay Animation Engineer

Who We Are

2K Games is headquartered in Novato, California and is a wholly owned label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO). Founded in 2005, 2K Games is a global video game company, publishing titles developed by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. Our studios responsible for developing 2K’s portfolio of world-class games across multiple platforms, include Visual Concepts, Firaxis, Hangar 13, CatDaddy, Cloud Chamber, 31st Union, and HB Studios. Our portfolio of titles is expanding due to our global strategic plan, building and acquiring exciting studios whose content continues to inspire all of us! 2K publishes titles in today’s most popular gaming genres, including sports, shooters, action, role-playing, strategy, casual, and family entertainment.

Located in Vancouver, BC, 2K Sports Lab is a small collective being formed within 2K Games that is driving the research and development of future sports interactive entertainment programs. Within this group, speculative work will be done on future sports games with an eye towards taking the magic of 2K’s publishing and development expertise and applying them to future opportunities.

Our team of engineers, marketers, artists, writers, data scientists, producers, thinkers and doers, are the professional publishing stewards of our growing library of critically-acclaimed franchises such as NBA 2K, 2K PGA, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Lego Drive, BioShock, Borderlands, The Quarry, Mafia, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, WWE 2K, and XCOM.

At 2K, we pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work! We encourage ALL applicants to explore our global positions, even if they don’t meet every requirement for the role. If you're interested in the job and think you have what it takes to work at 2K, we encourage you to apply.

What We Need:

We’re seeking an experienced Animation Engineer who has a high quality bar, a passion for solving complex problems, a passion for solving complex problems, and has a deep understanding of animation and animation technologies. In this role, you will be working closely with Artists, Design and Production to help develop nuanced and sophisticated animation behaviors that authentically replicate sport. You will help build the foundation, then iterate and innovate upon it and polish world class gameplay for what will be the next massive sports franchise in our industry.

What You’ll Do:

• Work with existing technology and build new technology in order to fulfill the project’s technical requirements and design goals.
• Collaborate closely with gameplay engineers and designers to identify and develop new animation features, and execute on the vision for the project.
• Advise on feasibility of design vision and propose solutions to AI challenges to achieve the design vision.
• Write and maintain well documented robust and performant code.
• Optimize code and Debug animation issues as they arise.
• Have and share opinions on the design of the game and game quality.
• Identify and diagnose issues in the game.
• Analyze the sport you are working on to faithfully recreate the behaviors of the players we are replicating, with the goal of creating Authentic, Emergent, Visually Appealing and Varied Animation behaviors.
• Assist more junior engineers in making the best use of existing and new Animation features.
• Conduct regular code reviews to ensure quality and consistency.
• Identify and diagnose issues in the game.
• Keep up to date with the latest industry/academic work for consideration for our Animation toolset.

What Will Make You A Great Fit:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field (or equivalent work experience).
• 5+ years of proven experience working as an Animation or Gameplay Engineer, especially for AAA games on consoles.
• Expertise and experience with C++.
• Solid 3D math and linear algebra skills.
• Ability to write clean, well-documented, and efficient code
• Ability to explain technical topics to people of varying levels of expertise.
• Self-motivated with excellent problem-solving skills
• Ability to work and collaborate effectively as part of a team.

Beneficial Qualifications:

• Passionate about playing and/or watching sports.
• Experience in Unreal Engine is a plus.
• Passion for video games (not just ours)