An example week for this person might be: Attend a design meeting and discover the need for a new camera feature to support a new content release. Program the camera feature and jump into the level editor to test and refine its implementation. Then, improve the level editor’s toolset to enable the rest of the design team to make full use of your new feature in future levels. Of course, the role isn’t limited to just camera features. Any interactive system applies — procedural animation, cloth simulation, player controls, AI creatures, NPC interactions — use your imagination!

This role requires a candidate who:

• Has experience crafting technical systems that enable gameplay (either alone or with a small team)
• Is proficient in C, C# or C++ for quickly prototyping 3D gameplay
• Is skilled at creating fluid user interactions with rich feedback and polished game feel
• Enjoys enabling team members by improving the creative pipeline
• Is comfortable with cross-disciplinary work and collaboration

This role prefers who:

• Has experienced with visual scripting
• Has experience in multiplayer game development
• Has experience with online operation of a live game
• Has experience using Maya or 3D game engines

You will be more likely to enjoy this job if you:

• Seek adventure and uncertainty in exploring experimental and risky game concepts
• Believe in the practice of rapid prototyping and relentless iteration
• Have a desire to create meaningful, enriching experiences that touch and inspire players 

The post Technical Game Designer appeared first on thatgamecompany.

thatgamecompany is best recognized for creating award-winning, enriching, and meaningful game titles such as Journey, Flower, and flOw. Our most recent game, Sky, is our most complex undertaking to date. It is a social network built around the values inherited from a powerful humanistic story. It is a live experience continuously evolving inside a global online theme park.

That’s why we’re looking for an exceptional engineer to join our team to innovate new solutions for the studio and help enrich the user experience for millions of active players worldwide.

Responsibilities

• Work with a highly-skilled ITS team to deliver solutions for solving in-game and internal team challenges
• Exhibits Agile & DevOps values in a self-organizing team
• Maintain high standards of software quality within the team by modeling good practices and habits
• Deliver exemplary user experiences and performant web services, as well as the data structures and interfaces that support them using React/Redux, Typescript, Node.js, PostgreSQL, and AWS.
• Provide technical insight and ideas regarding user experience of internal tools
• Support the development and maintenance of backend infrastructure and microservices
• Interact with different departments of the company to discover and address problems and needs
• Collaborate with other developers to plan, design, develop, and unit test applications.

Must haves

• 3+ years of relevant programming experience
• Experience building modern REST APIs in Node.js
• Experience using modern front-end Javascript frameworks (e.g., React, Redux, Hooks)
• Knowledge of Typescript
• Experience designing data structures and querying relational and non-relational database technologies such as Postgresql, Redis, MongoDB, etc.
• Experience with Git version control system
• Thrive in a highly collaborative environment involving cross-functional and multi-disciplinary teams
• Strong initiative to find ways to improve solutions, systems, and processes

Nice to know

• Python, Go, Erlang
• Data Analytics, BigQuery, Datadog
• CI/CD, Gitlab, Kubernetes, Terraform

Last but not the least, loves our games and believes in our mission and vision! We look forward to meeting you.

*This position is Remote

The post Full Stack Engineer appeared first on thatgamecompany.

NEW Adventure – ‘Season of Sanctuary’

Dive into this specially-curated summer edition adventure! This unique season will take place in the newly unveiled vacation-styled islands in Daylight Prairie Realm. From beginning to end, it has been designed to deliver a retreat-like experience for fans playing and staying safe at home. Meet the new seasonal characters, learn about the back stories within the new area, and unlock the fun summer-inspired collectibles along the way! Check out the teaser if you missed the announcement:

NEW Merchandise

Due to popular demand, thatgamecompany will be launching a small selection of official ‘Sky’ merchandise during the anniversary week. Keeping in line with the studio’s indie ethos, the merchandise items have been designed with care and attention, produced in small batches at a time, and sent out with gratitude and love. It will be a perfect gift to send to fellow fans! Head to Sky’s game app, website, and social channels for upcoming information.

First Anniversary In-Game Events

‘Sky’ players will have access to a bespoke ‘1 Year Anniversary’ hat gift in exchange for hearts. Folks joining the area will also be able to enjoy other birthday-themed festivities and decorations too.

A Message from Jenova Chen

Jenova Chen, co-Founder and Creative Director commented: “Without a doubt, Sky has been one of the most exciting, challenging, rewarding and heartwarming chapters of thatgamecompany studio. We humbly launched Sky a year ago with the hope that it may emotionally evoke or touch people’s hearts… I don’t think we were ready for the players’ response or that over 20 million fans would get to play it. Its world has truly become the community’s haven to be themselves and to positively connect with others. We can’t wait to grow this space with our fans over this next year!”

Stay tuned to our website and social media news next week for additional details and news! Everyone is invited to join the discussion on our official Discord server at discord.gg/thatskygame.

The post Sky Hits 20 Million Downloads Ahead of First Anniversary appeared first on thatgamecompany.

Last month, thatgamecompany announced that it would look to create opportunities for the company and its fan community to participate in relief efforts during the months of April and May. Starting with Earth Day, we began by partnering with the global charity One Tree Planted to plant a tree in regions affected by wildfires with every Earth Day-inspired cape purchased. The event was an instant hit among players, with the final benefit results to be shared shortly.

To help with the fight against COVID-19, we are proud to share we are partnering with Doctors Without Borders and the #PlayTogetherApart initiative for the coming months. Read on to learn more on how to get involved.

New Healing Pack

Support pandemic relief efforts with the new Healing Pack, which comes with 75 regular Candles and a flower head accessory to show off your support. This new pack can be purchased in-game for $19.99 starting at noon PDT (UTC-7) on Monday, May 18th. 100% of revenue will benefit Doctors Without Borders to help with the fight against COVID-19.

Learn more about Doctors Without Borders COVID-19 relief efforts here.

We’ve heard the community’s pleas for another Double Heart event, and we agree — during these difficult times, it’s most important to find small ways to stay connected and show love for one another. Starting on Monday, we will be holding a Double Heart event, with every Heart or Gift of Light (partial Heart) that you gift a friend doubled. While the Healing Pack will be purchasable for longer, the Days of Healing Double Heart event will run for one week, and ends on Monday, May 25th at noon PDT (UTC-7).

PlayApartTogether with Sky

Alongside Sky’s Days of Healing event, thatgamecompany will join other game companies as a participant of the #PlayApartTogether movement. The goal is to promote the World Health Organization’s guidelines of washing hands and staying safe by socially distancing during this difficult time. With the support of online communities like Sky, we can do our part to stay socially distanced but not socially isolated by staying home and playing games.

Stay tuned to our social media and Discord community over the next month for additional ways to join us in supporting #PlayApartTogether’s message.

The post Sky: Days of Healing Event appeared first on thatgamecompany.

Earth Day in SKY

Let’s celebrate Earth Day by making a difference in the real world! We’re partnering with the charity One Tree Planted to plant a tree with every purchase of the Days of Nature cape. The commemorative Days of Nature cape is yours to keep.

The Days of Nature event begins at 00:00 PDT (UTC-7) on Wednesday, April 22nd and runs through Sunday, April 26th for a total of five days.

About One Tree Planted

One Tree Planted is a non-profit organization focused on global reforestation/environmental charity. As an environmental charity, they are dedicated to making it easier for individuals and businesses to give back to the environment, create a healthier climate, protect biodiversity and help reforestation efforts around the world. All by planting trees!

Learn more about OneTreeplanted at http://onetreeplanted.org.

#PlayApartTogether

In the coming weeks, we are proud to share thatgamecompany will also be contributing to the #PlayApartTogether campaign. As a global game, we are all impacted by these trying times, but support the World Health Organization’s message to stay socially distanced to help slow the spread of COVID-19. With the support of online communities, let’s do our part to stay socially distanced but not socially isolated. Wherever you are — by staying home and playing games, we can stay healthy, socially connected, and help make a difference for all of us.

Stay tuned for additional ways to participate in #PlayApartTogether and for more news on a special purchase pack in Sky to help support those affected by the pandemic. We are still ironing out the details of which charity, but we plan for 100% of net receipts to be donated.

The post SKY Relief Efforts appeared first on thatgamecompany.

You can dive into this heartwarming social adventure on Google Play here.

About the Game

In Sky, we arrive as the Children of the Light, spreading hope through the kingdom to return the fallen Stars to their constellations. Only by sharing light to awaken and redeem the perished ancestors and civilizations can the mysteries be uncovered, and the Stars be restored again.

Make New Friends & Grow Closer

The world of Sky is full of real players just like you. Befriend your fellow Sky children and team up together to adventure into darker realms, save spirits, and unlock multiplayer puzzles. Use candles to enhance your friendship and unlock interactive abilities like hand-holding, hug, high-five, chat, and more.

Crossplay is enabled so the Android players who have been waiting will be able to play with their iOS friends in Sky. If you are switching device types, you can save your progress and transfer your progress to any device when you link your Sky account to Google. This will also protect your progress if your device is ever broken or lost.

Unravel the Mystery

Take your new friends by hand and soar through the clouds together, and collaborate to spread Light back into the lands and constellations in the skies. As you explore the seven different realms, be sure to travel off the main roads to uncover the secrets of the world and history of its civilization.

Learn New Expressions

Save the ancestor spirits you encounter by witnessing their memories and returning them to the sky. Every ancestor spirit you save will add a star in your constellation and teach you a unique expression to add to your collection. Saving more spirits will also open gates into new lands.

Express Yourself

Advance your friendship with the ancestor spirits you save by gifting Hearts and Candles to them and completing each spirit constellation. As your friendship with each spirit progresses, unlock new outfits and special items like musical instruments to express yourself. If you complete every constellation star in one kingdom, its Elder will have a special item to unlock after you ascend to the Storm.

Fly Higher

As you explore the corners of every Sky kingdom, keep an eye out for Winged Light scattered throughout the lands. Collect these Winged Light to grow your cape and reach new, higher places.

Ascend to the Storm

Deliver your Winged Light through Eden to advance your cape and unlock the greatest rewards

Ongoing and Upcoming Events in SKY

Sky is an ever-expanding world with upcoming attractions, including daily quests, Traveling Spirits, Adventure Pass Seasons, and recurring events to increase the rate you forge Candles or Hearts.

Adventure Pass Seasons

Every Adventure Pass Season will bring six new spirits for you to meet – each with their own quest, story, and cosmetics for you to collect. Your goal during the Season is to find each Seasonal Spirit in the world in order to reunite them with the rest of their party, collect their unique expression, and then bring them Seasonal Candles to complete their constellation to unlock additional rewards.

The Adventure Pass is used to unlock Seasonal events as they arrive in Sky. All of these Spirits and their unique expressions are available to all players for free, but holders of the Adventure Pass will have a special pendant that will allow them to receive twice the rewards for every time they level up their relationship with a Spirit. This is an optional paid component to Seasons, which increases the rate at which you can earn Season Candles, and opens up additional rewards. You can either purchase the Adventure Pass by itself, or if you’re feeling generous, you can purchase the Adventure Pack which contains a Pass for yourself and two Pass tokens to gift to your friends.

Daily Quests

Each day opens up four new daily quests to complete for Candles. If an Adventure Pass Season is active, you will instead be rewarded Seasonal Candles for your efforts.

Traveling Spirits

Traveling Spirits are spirits from previous seasons who briefly return to Sky to visit for a four-day period. While visiting, their memories will become available to relive for players who may have missed them. Traveling Spirits will appear for players who have completed at least the Valley of Triumph level, and visit every two weeks while a season is active, and every weekend when in between seasons.To respect the hard work of the players who obtained Seasonal items during their original Seasons, currency costs of Traveling Spirit items will require more effort to obtain.

Season of Enchantment

The next Adventure Pass Season is on the horizon! Check out the trailer for the Season of Enchantment if you missed it:

For a head start this season, you can now pre-order the Adventure Pass and receive 10 bonus Seasonal Candles.

Days of Spring

Celebrate the coming of Spring with accelerated regular Candle forging in Sky. Forge twice as many regular Candles when collecting the same amount of light from the world. This event ends at 12 noon PDT (UTC-7) on April 13th.

Days of Nature

Join us in celebrating Earth Day by making a difference in the real world! We will plant a tree with every purchase of the Days of Nature pack.

Get Involved with the Community

Sky is better with friends! Dive into our global community and join the conversation with other players all over the world.

Join the Official Sky Discord

Join our growing Discord community for the latest Sky news, candle giveaways, new friends, help for your how-to-play questions, polls for you to help us improve Sky, weekly fanart drawing prompts, and more!

Share Your Sky Content & Fanart

The Sky community is rich in creative talent and we love to celebrate it! Share your Sky videos, art, music covers, and other fan videos on social media using the hashtag ‘#thatskygame’ to join the conversation and for a chance to be featured on official Sky social media.

The post Sky: Children of the Light Out on Google Play Now! appeared first on thatgamecompany.

Nintendo Switch will be the first home system and console release to kickstart our Sky series, and the team is working hard on providing cross-play functionality so that our community (iOS/ Android/ Nintendo/ future platforms) can connect and explore the kingdom together. We remain committed to developing Sky and to publish on more formats in the future.

With Android also slated for April release globally, we are focused on growing our community and continuing to deliver new seasons and in-game events designed to delight and surprise our fans.

In the meantime, here is a preview trailer for Nintendo Switch fans to enjoy:

The post Sky: Children of the Light’s console release starts on Nintendo Switch appeared first on thatgamecompany.

To celebrate this 10 Million milestone, Sky will be doubling the volume of seasonal wax available to players as a small “thank you” gift to our community later this week. We’ll have more news to share on our social media around the dates and times of our 10 Million Thank You event shortly.

We’re also amped to announce that we’re close to finishing the last round of development for Sky on Android devices, and will be releasing to Google Play globally by next month. We thank all of our Android fans who have waited patiently as we’ve worked tirelessly to deliver the game onto a new format. If you haven’t already pre-registered, please head towards: http://bit.ly/PreregisterSky

The biggest reward has been seeing our fans fly together and forge new connections with casual gamers, traditional players and non-gamers across the globe. Thank you for growing our community, and here’s to 10 Million more!

The post Sky Surpasses 10 Million Downloads, Android set for global launch appeared first on thatgamecompany.

Job Description

This position is for (2) two 3D artists who will work on Sky : Children of the light. Each of the artist will work with the team to create new content for the game which includes new maps, avatar’s outfits and cosmetics using our proprietary engine and Maya. The artist will report to the Art Director and art leads and work closely with the design team to successfully translate concept art, design layouts to final game assets

Must Haves:

• 2+ years of professional experience modeling and texturing characters, props for games
• Ability to create 3D environments and landscapes with maya
• Willingness to learn our proprietary engine
• Ability to translate 2D concept art to 3D models
• Professional experience working with Maya
• Strong interests in outfit design and cultural design
• Strong traditional fine art skills, training, and production experience (illustration, painting, organic forms, color theory, perspective, 2D & 3D design.)
• Strong artistic sense of shape, proportion and color.
• Strong understanding and ability to create stylized textures
• Ability to work in a collaborative environment, taking direction from the team leads and Art Director
• Ability to work well in teams consisting of rigging, animation and character design
• Ability to artistically interpret concepts or creatively push beyond an initial ideation
• Experience working and collaborating with with developers in various disciplines
• A Bachelor’s in fine arts or relevant curriculum or equivalent skill set.
• Fast iterative 3d modeling process
• Strong problem solving skills

Nice to Haves:

• An avid Sky : Children of the Light Player
• Experience in shipping a game title as a 3D artist
• Strong interests in outfit design and cultural design
• Experience with character rigging
• Drawing/Painting ability

We look forward to meeting you!

The post 3D Artists appeared first on thatgamecompany.

Other winners included:
iPhone App of the Year: Spectre Camera (Lux Optics)
iPad App of the Year: Flow by Moleskine (Moleskine)
Mac App of the Year: Affinity Publisher (Serif Labs)
Apple TV App of the Year: The Explorers (The Explorers Network)
App Trend of 2019: Storytelling Simplified
iPad Game of the Year: “Hyper Light Drifter” (Abylight S.L.)
Mac Game of the Year: “GRIS” (Devolver / Nomada Studio)
Apple TV Game of the Year: “Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap” (DotEmu)
Game Trend of 2019: Blockbusters Reimagined
Apple Arcade Game of the Year: “Sayonara Wild Hearts” (Simogo)

As part of the event, we had the pleasure of meeting the other developers and providing a showcase of Sky to global media delegates.  It was a phenomenal experience and we are incredibly humbled by this accolade. 

Thank you to Apple, and congratulations to all of the developers who are part of the event.

For the full press announcement, head to: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/12/apple-celebrates-the-best-apps-and-games-of-2019/

The post ‘Sky: Children of the Light’ honored as Apple’s iPhone Game of the Year appeared first on thatgamecompany.