Senior Animator

Your mission

Are you ready to join the Overwatch team and make an impact? We're seeking a skilled Senior Animator for Overwatch 2, a full-time role based in Irvine, CA.

Your mission: bring characters to life with your animation skills, collaborate with designers and engineers, and innovate our animation pipeline. Showcase your talent with a demo reel, and let's create something extraordinary together.

If you're passionate about animation and eager to contribute to an iconic game, we want to hear from you

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The home studio for this role is Irvine, CA.
 
Responsibilities

• Envision and craft animations for real-time game assets, including hero style guides and prototypes for earlier visualization.
• Collaborate with artists, designers, and engineers to ensure assets meet gameplay and technical needs.
• Work with the lead animator and other team members to evolve our tools and pipeline.
• Actively participate in team art discussions, critiques, and reviews as part of the larger Overwatch team.

Requirements

• Candidates should have over 8 years of experience in game development, explicitly animating characters using Maya or a comparable 3D program.
• Demonstrate a solid understanding of traditional animation principles and their application to gameplay enhancement.
• A strong interest in animation and effective communication skills are necessary to work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary art team, bringing characters to life in alignment with the game design vision.
• Submit a demo reel showcasing proficiency in animating the human bipedal figure and other organic forms.

Bonus Points

• The ideal candidate for this position should have experience in shipping a AAA game as an animator and demonstrate proficiency in an engine equivalent to Unreal. Additionally, expertise in one or more related disciplines—such as first-person animation, modeling, rigging, VFX, 2D animation, or technical art—is highly desirable.

Submission / Portfolio requirements

• Submit a resume and an online portfolio showcasing your animation skills (e.g., website, blog, or reel). An animation test may be required during the selection process.

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment.  We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest. 

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics. 

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered  Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company.  You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $80,800.00 - $149,400.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.