Technical Animator / Senior Technical Animator — Quadrupeds, Unreal Engine

ABOUT YOU

We're looking for an experienced Technical Animator who is passionate about bringing quadruped characters to life with realistic, believable movement in Unreal Engine. You have a strong understanding of animal biomechanics and locomotion, and you're confident working across the full animation pipeline - from rigging and Control Rig setup to fully optimized, production-ready animation systems for multiplayer gameplay.

ABOUT US

Xsolla is a global commerce company with robust tools and services to help developers solve the inherent challenges of the video game industry. From indie to AAA, companies partner with Xsolla to help them fund, distribute, market, and monetize their games. Grounded in the belief in the future of video games, Xsolla is resolute in the mission to bring opportunities together, and continually make new resources available to creators. Headquartered and incorporated in Los Angeles, California, Xsolla operates as the merchant of record and has helped over 1,500+ game developers to reach more players and grow their businesses around the world. With more paths to profits and ways to win, developers have all the things needed to enjoy the game.

For more information, visit xsolla.com.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and maintain animation systems for quadruped characters
• Set up Animation Blueprints, State Machines, Blend Spaces, Animation Layers
• Create and configure IK/FK, Full Body IK, and procedural animation systems
• Set up locomotion: walk, trot, canter, gallop, turns, starts/stops, jumps
• Configure blending, additive animations, sync groups, and transitions
• Work with IK Rig / IK Retargeter and adapt animations between different skeletons
• Work with motion capture data, cleanup, and retargeting
• Create and maintain Control Rig tools
• Fix foot sliding, popping, IK, and blending artifacts
• Optimize Animation Blueprints, Control Rig, and skeletal animation systems
• Develop and maintain animation systems for multiplayer projects
• Work with networked locomotion, prediction, and reconciliation
• Synchronize Montages and locomotion states in networked gameplay
• Collaborate with animators, game designers, and programmers
• Develop and improve the animation pipeline and internal tools

REQUIREMENTS

• 5+ years of experience in technical animation / gameplay animation
• Hands-on experience with quadruped characters
• Portfolio with quadruped animation examples - required
• Strong knowledge of Unreal Engine: Animation Blueprints, Control Rig, IK Rig / Retargeter, Blend Spaces, State Machines
• Solid understanding of animal biomechanics and quadruped locomotion
• Experience with rigging, skinning, and skeleton setup
• Experience with motion capture pipelines
• Experience with Maya, MotionBuilder, or a similar DCC tool
• Understanding of root motion, animation curves, notifies, montages, additive animation
• Experience debugging and optimizing animation systems
• Understanding of the differences between local and replicated character state
• Understanding of which animation states/variables should be calculated locally versus driven by replicated gameplay state
• Understanding of latency, desync, animation popping issues, and ways to minimize them
• Conversational English
• Experience working on AA or AAA game projects

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience animating large quadrupeds (not just domestic animals, but heavy/massive locomotion)
• Motion Matching / Pose Search
• Full Body IK / procedural locomotion
• Python / scripting
• C++ in Unreal
• Building animation tools
• Experience optimizing NPC crowds / large numbers of skeletal meshes