Job Description

At Skydance Interactive, we believe in pushing the boundaries of what is possible in interactive entertainment. Innovation in game design, technology and storytelling is the passion that drives our agile studio of dedicated and talented game creators. Collaboration across all disciplines is vital to our success and is at the core of the inclusive culture we strive to foster every day.

We empower our employees to take ownership of the features they develop and create their own solutions when challenges arise. As our studio grows, we want to bring even more risk-takers, innovators and diverse voices along for the ride as we continue to create the games that will defy convention and define the future of the medium.

Our studio was founded in 2008 by several Treyarch veterans as The Workshop. For eight years, we built our reputation in the AAA console space working on hit titles such as Gears of War, XCom 2, Sorcery and The Evil Within.

In 2016, we joined forces with Skydance Media to form Skydance Interactive and set our sights on becoming the premiere studio in the burgeoning arena of Virtual Reality. Following the success of our first VR title Archangel, we elevated our ambition and tackled The Walking Dead universe in VR. The result was the 2020 genre-defining hit The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.

As Lead Writer for Skydance Interactive, you are a primary author and vision holder for exciting story-driven Virtual Reality games based on popular IPs. You work closely with a project’s Creative and Narrative Directors to develop a cohesive story vision and are the main point of contact for other development teams creating all aspects of in-game narrative. You collaborate with the game’s designers to ensure the highest standards of excellence for the game’s plot, characters, and dialogue.

Responsibilities

• Assume a key leadership role on the development team and take ownership of the game’s narrative
• Generate foundational story and character concepts to be used by other disciplines
• Be the primary point of contact and vision-holder for the game’s plot and characters
• Using the studio’s documentation tools, maintain narrative documents according to set standards of order, clarity, conciseness, style, and terminology
• Using the game engine’s tools, create and maintain all game dialogue and non-diegetic text from initial drafts through revisions to final release
• Work with audio teams to ensure recorded actor dialogue accurately reflects narrative and character intent
• Work within technical constraints, production schedules, and market demands of VR games
• Work within licensor guidelines for major IPs
• Be a strong advocate of narrative, character, and dialogue with other development team disciplines
• Find new storytelling opportunities within VR games and champion their implementation

Qualifications

• Shipped at least one AAA game title as a Lead Writer
• Demonstrated writing skills and creative talent via submitted portfolio of past work
• Deep knowledge of storytelling tones, themes, narrative structures, etc.
• Broad knowledge of popular IPs in modern games, films, television shows, and comics
• Experience using online documentation systems (Confluence, etc.) to maintain all story-related documents required by other teams and disciplines
• Experience using game engine tools to compose and maintain dialogue and non-diegetic text
• Ability to meet deadlines with attention to details
• Strong oral communication and interpersonal skills (cross-functional team environments)
• High flexibility for changes in creative direction and/or rewrites necessitated by emergent factors
• Ability to work within a game’s overall framework to create interesting plots and subplots
• Awareness of and sensitivity to other departments’ resources (art, programming, etc.) and ability to work within those limits when devising plots and characters
• Ability to recognize weaknesses and potential problems in plots, characters, and gameplay to propose and/or brainstorm appropriate solutions with development team leads
• Thorough understanding of the end-user’s needs and ability to write from that perspective
• Ability to self-educate through document reviews and product usage
• Strong research, analytical, and problem solving skills

The salary range for this position in Los Angeles is $130,000 – $155,000. The salary offered may vary based on the candidate’s location, qualifications, experience and relevant expertise, among other factors. The range indicated is for base salary only and does not reflect the total compensation package, including bonus, benefits, etc. 

We realize that skills and expertise can come from many different experiences and paths, and we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all of the requirements as written in the job description. 

#Interactive #LI-hybrid

Skydance is a diversified media company founded by David Ellison in 2010 to create high quality, event-level entertainment for global audiences. The Company brings to life stories of immersive worlds across its feature film, television, interactive, and animation divisions.   Skydance is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to building and fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. We welcome and consider applicants for employment regardless of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy status, military/veteran status, disability, or any other protected category. Diversity in the workplace is not just a commitment, it is who we are and a reflection of what makes our world special.

Recruitment Fraud Alert

It has come to our attention that there may be fraudulent activity by individuals impersonating our Talent Acquisition team. Skydance will only contact you from an official “@skydance.com” email address. If you suspect that you are being contacted by an unauthorized person or believe that the correspondence you have received is suspicious, please do not click on any links or attachments in such emails and submit any questions or concerns to our information security team at information.security@skydance.com.