3D animator (and modeler)

Galaxy Grove is a game studio in Utrecht, Netherlands, specialising in high quality 3D management and building games (entertainment games, not applied/serious games). Our games have a strong atmosphere, striking art and unique, intuitive gameplay. We are currently a team of 12 people and have recently released our first game Station to Station, to great critical acclaim. Galaxy Grove is founded and led by award winning game industry veteran Joost van Dongen (Awesomenauts, Swords & Soldiers, Blightbound, Robo Maestro, Proun, Cello Fortress, De Blob). Galaxy Grove is looking for a 3D animator (and modeler) to join us as soon as possible. In this role, you create 3D models, rigs and animations, owning the entire flow from model to animation to Unreal for the assets you create. Initially mostly for characters, later on possibly also for buildings, trains and machines. Since we make management games, the animations need to also communicate well when viewed from a distance, so figuring out the amount of stylistic exaggeration in the animations is part of the job. Depending on how production goes, you might also spend some time on pure modelling for static models. We use MagicaVoxel for modelling, Blender for animation and Unreal as our game engine. It’s okay if you don’t know those yet: if you are great at 3D rigging and animating in other 3D software, then you can learn MagicaVoxel and Blender quickly enough. You’ll also be involved in the games and company as a whole, like joining in playtests and sharing your ideas and thoughts for our games. Galaxy Grove is an inclusive game studio where everyone with a passion for making great games is welcome. We believe in helping each other get better at our craft, in learning new skills, and in a healthy work-life balance where overtime and crunch are avoided. Requirements: Excellent at bringing characters to life through 3D animation, expressing weight, emotion and personality through lively animations Good at rigging Good at 3D modelling Okay at communicating in English Doesn’t need a visa to work in the Netherlands (if you have an EU passport you don’t need a visa) Plusses: Good at concepting and experimenting with shapes (in 3D and/or 2D) Experience with VFX Experience with Blender Experience with advanced animation automation, for example for making all the gears in a machine animate automatically when a single driver is animated Experience with MagicaVoxel (or other voxel art tools) Experience with Unreal Engine A good understanding of the limitations and possibilities of real-time game animation Any skills in other art fields, for example in procedural art, UI art, video editing, shaders and/or concept art If you think you could do the job but don’t meet some of the requirements, then we encourage you to apply anyway. This is a hybrid position, with Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday working from the Galaxy Grove office in Utrecht. The other days can be either working from home or from the office, depending on your preference. We don’t do fully remote and can’t help you with getting a visa, so you need to have an EU passport to be able to apply for this job. You will also need to be willing to work from the Netherlands during the job so you can actually come into the office on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. To apply, please send an email to jobs@galaxy-grove.com. Please include: A link to your extensive portfolio, showing the quality of your best work, but also the diversity of your skills CV Cover letter