THE OPPORTUNITY
We are an indie team working on an Unreal Engine stealth and parkour action game inspired by Assassin’s Creed and Dishonored. We are seeking a Gameplay Animator who can own character animation from rigging through final in-game implementation, with a strong focus on responsiveness, readability, and gameplay feel.
The ideal candidate is comfortable hand-keying animations, cleaning and adapting motion capture data, and improving third-party animation packs into cohesive, high-quality gameplay sets. They should have strong instincts for realistic movement, parkour, and physical weight, and understand how animation supports stealth, traversal, and player feedback rather than cinematic presentation.
This role will work very closely with the Gameplay Programmer and Game Designer to iterate rapidly on player movement, transitions, and traversal systems. Experience using AI-assisted animation tools such as Cascadeur is a strong plus.
This is a remote freelance position for 3 to 4 months, starting as soon as possible, with the option to extend based on fit and project needs. Daily collaboration and calls will be required and factored into the pricing.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Create, rig, and animate player and character animations for a third person stealth and parkour game.
- Hand-key high-quality gameplay animations with a strong sense of weight, balance, and realism.
- Clean up, edit, and adapt motion capture data to meet gameplay needs.
- Improve and customize third-party animation packs to create cohesive, production-ready animation sets.
- Collaborate closely with the Gameplay Programmer to support animation blending, motion matching, and state transitions.
- Work with the Game Designer to ensure animations support gameplay clarity, timing, and player feedback.
- Iterate quickly on animations based on playtests, feel reviews, and technical constraints.
- Support traversal systems including climbing, vaulting, jumping, drops, and parkour flows.
- Help ensure animations integrate cleanly into Unreal Engine animation systems.
- Maintain clean, organized animation assets suitable for iteration and production.
- Participate in reviews and provide feedback on animation quality, readability, and gameplay feel.
QUALIFICATIONS
- 3+ years of experience as a Gameplay Animator or Character Animator.
- Strong experience with character rigging and animation for games.
- Proven ability to hand-key animations and clean up motion capture data.
- Experience adapting and improving existing animation packs.
- Strong understanding of realistic human movement, parkour, and traversal.
- Gameplay-focused mindset, prioritizing responsiveness and clarity over cinematic presentation.
- Experience working in Unreal Engine animation pipelines.
- Ability to iterate quickly and respond to gameplay and technical feedback.
- Comfortable collaborating daily with programmers and designers.
- Strong communication skills and ability to work in a remote team environment.
- Portfolio showing gameplay animations, locomotion sets, traversal, or parkour work.
PREFERENCES
- Experience on stealth, parkour, or third person action games.
- Familiarity with animation blending, motion matching, and locomotion systems.
- Experience using AI-assisted animation tools such as Cascadeur.
- Background in indie or AA game development.
- Experience working on vertical slices or early production phases.
- Technical understanding of animation constraints in gameplay systems.
COMPENSATION
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$24-35/hour, depending on experience and performance.
- Project-based contracts, with set deliverables and time frames.
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