Animator

Work Responsibilities

Creating assets and establishing the visual style of specified areas of the project

Lead Animator positions also require:
Providing direction and leadership tasks (such as quality control, schedule management, and training other staff) for specified areas of the project

The Ideal Candidate has…

A strong passion and unique vision for making games
The ability to create in-game animation, both by hand and by editing motion capture data
The ability to work with game designers and programmers to contribue to game design
Strong communication skills to work smoothly in a team-focused development environment

Applicants new to the games industry should explain their reason for wanting to work in games.

Necessary Skills and Experience

Ability to contribute to game development as a animation artist
Basic Japanese conversational skills

Desired Skills

Experience with DCC tools, such as MotionBuilder or Maya
Experience rigging humans and/or animals
Development experience in Unreal Engine 4, Unity or similar game engines
Experience scripting using MEL or Python
Motion capture editing experience
Experience designing animation workflows or pipelines for projects
The ability to read and comprehend English manuals

Lead Animator candidates should also have:
Management experience on previous projects

Conditions

No games industry experience is required for this position.

QUALIFICATIONS

Employment Type

Full-time employee
Probationary period: 3 -6 months

Payment Method

Annual salary with payments on a monthly basis
Salary is determined based on the employee’s level of experience and ability, rather than age.

Location

Osaka or Tokyo
Applicants are requested to select their desired work location in our online application form. The location will then be determined through the application evaluation process.

Work Hours

Discretionary working system; employees may determine their own working hours at their discretion, with a work day beginning at 9:30 and ending at 18:00 as a base
Employees are expected to take at least one hour of break time during their work day.

Allowances and Stipends

A commuter allowance of 20,000 yen per month, included in regular pay
Allowance for 40 hours of overtime, included in regular pay
Extra payments are made for any overtime in excess of 40 hours, late-night work, and work on holidays.
Relocation stipends:
Employees moving from within Japan, but over 150 kilometers away from our Osaka or Tokyo office, are eligible for a relocation stipend of 300,000 yen.
Employees moving to Japan from outside the country are eligible for a relocation stipend of 500,000 yen.
Child allowance:
Employees with dependent children under 18 years of age are eligible for a stipend of 5,000 yen per child per month.

Holidays and Leave

The following days are holidays for employees:
Saturdays and Sundays
Japanese national holidays
Company summer holidays
Year-end Holidays (from 12/29 to 1/4)
Company founding day (typically 2/2)

Leave:
Employees receive paid leave days; the amount received is contingent on when the employee joins the company, with a maximum of 10 days in the first year.
Bereavement leave and other special leave is available when employees need it.

There were 128 days off of work in 2022.

Retirement Pay

Included (Based on the PlatinumGames Retirement Pay Regulations)

Mandatory Retirement Age

60 (Can be extended to 65 upon employee’s request)

Social Insurance

Health insurance
Welfare pension insurance
Employment insurance
Worker’s compensation for job-related accidents

Benefits

Employee savings system (with interest)
Endowment insurance
Group Long-Term Disability (GLTD) insurance
Employee shareholder association
Free drink service (water and vending machines with a variety of tea, coffee and soft drinks)
Mental healthcare services, including counseling with an occupational physician
Company support for employee club activities
Special payments for weddings, childbirth, sickness, etc.
Free access to the Umeda Sky Building fitness gym *
Free massage service *
Lunch delivery (230 yen per meal) *
Please see this page for more information on the benefits we offer.

Salary Increases

Employees are eligible for a pay increase evaluation once per fiscal year, in June.

APPLY

How to Apply

Please prepare the “Application Materials” listed below and submit them through our online application form.

The online application form accepts the following file formats: PDF, JPG, PNG, GIF.
There is a maximum file size of 5 MB per file. Please ensure that your name in alphanumeric characters is included in the filenames of any data that you submit.

If you need to send files larger than 5 MB, or in a format other than those listed, you may use services such as Dropbox, firestorage, YouTube, Vimeo, etc., or a personal online portfolio site to host them. Please clearly specify the URL we should visit to find your materials.
Please do not use services that require an account to view your files, as we will not be able to view them.

Application Materials

Resume, including a recent photograph
A document explaining your work history, formatted at your discretion

If you have previous games industry experience, please include details about your duties and responsibilities.

Application Flow

After receiving your application materials, we will begin the initial screening process. You will be notified of the results of this screening within a week to ten business days after we receive your materials.
Applicants who pass the initial screening will move to the interview phase.

1. Application submission
2. Aptitude test
3. Initial interview with your section head
4. Final interview with your section head and company representative

A job offer may be made after a successful final interview.
The aptitude test is simply to gauge your potential place in our workplace environment and has no bearing on whether you will proceed to the interview stage or not.

Interview Location

Interview will be held online (via ZOOM).

Notes

The company will cover travel expenses to and from interviews, for applicants traveling from over 150 kilometers away from our offices.
Applicants hired at our Tokyo branch office will be expected to spend two weeks to one month in training at our Osaka main office within a year of joining the company. The timing of this training is open for discussion.

Online Application