Unknown Worlds is a creatively driven, fully remote, globally distributed studio committed to bringing players new types of game experiences. We helped pioneer the early access development model and continue to develop openly with our fans and community. Since our inception in 2001 we have created the hybrid FPS/RTS Natural Selection franchise, the underwater survival hit Subnautica (6.5M+ copies sold), and our most recent release in the Subnautica universe – Subnautica: Below Zero.
Art: Senior 3D Character Artist
Unknown Worlds is seeking an accomplished 3D character artist to work on our next game in the Subnautica Universe. Our ideal candidate will have a passion for character design and creation. They will have experience with end to end art pipelines, working from initial concept drawings through modeling, texturing, polish and optimization.
This is a remote position on a fully remote team.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate closely with concept artists and other members of the art team to create characters and creatures for our games.
- Work with technical artists and animators to define our character pipelines and workflows.
- Assist production and the art lead with scoping character assets for the project.
- Assist with the integration of art assets into the game.
- Work with the art director to provide feedback to outsource partners on character assets when needed.
Qualifications
- 5+ years experience as a 3D artist in the games industry with a minimum of one shipped title.
- High level of proficiency with Max, Maya or Blender, Z-Brush, and Substance Painter.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
- Strong traditional drawing/painting or sculpting skills including a solid understanding of human anatomy.
- Self-motivated, highly organized and self managing individual comfortable working in a remote environment.
- Desire to contribute creatively to the development of our games outside of art.
Preferences
- Experience managing and directing outsource partners.
- Experience working on “character creator” features in games.
- Experience with Unreal engine.
- Experience with multiplatform development including console.
- Experience with other art disciplines is a plus (animation, rigging, VFX).
We make games that are accessible and engaging for players all over the world. We believe in hiring and supporting the most talented and creative people of diverse backgrounds. That support includes annual professional development and home office stipends, as well as paid time off for volunteer/non-profit work. Join us and be a part of our growing and innovative studio.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.
Art: Senior 3D Environment Artist
Unknown Worlds is seeking an accomplished 3D environment artist to work on our next game in the Subnautica Universe. Our ideal candidate will possess strong sculpting skills and have a passion for creating and texturing natural environments and vegetation. They will have experience with end to end art pipelines - working from initial concept drawings through modeling, texturing, polish and optimization.
This is a remote position on a fully remote team.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate closely with the concept team and other environment artists to create stunning, expressive 3D environments and bring our game worlds to life
- Work with the art team to refine and improve our art pipelines and workflows
- Work with graphics programmers to develop new systems and techniques and help manage texture and shader efficiency
- Assist with integration of art assets into the game
Qualifications
- 3+ years experience as a 3D artist in the games industry with minimum one shipped title
- High level of proficiency with Max, Maya or Blender, Z-Brush, and Substance Designer & Painter
- Skilled at texturing and developing materials in Substance Designer
- Skilled at sculpting natural environments and vegetation
- Strong written and verbal communication
- Strong traditional drawing/painting or sculpting skills
- Self-starting, organized and highly motivated
- Desire to contribute creatively to the development of our games outside of art
Preferences
- Experience with Unreal engine
- Experience with multiplatform development including console
- Experience with other art subdisciplines a plus (animation, rigging, VFX)
- Comfortable working with a completely remote team
We make games that are accessible and engaging for players all over the world. We believe in hiring and supporting the most talented and creative people of diverse backgrounds. That support includes annual professional development and home office stipends, as well as paid time off for volunteer/non-profit work. Join us and be a part of our growing and innovative studio.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.
Art: Visual FX Artist
Unknown Worlds is seeking a talented VFX artist to work on our next game in the Subnautica Universe. Our VFX team is responsible for creating visual effects that bridge gameplay and art and enrich the player experience. Your work will span multiple areas of the game including characters, environment and UI. This is a full time remote position on a globally distributed team.
Responsibilities
- Generate and implement visual effects that meet the aesthetic and technical requirements of the project.
- Work with the art team to ensure we have the tools and technology we need to implement effects efficiently and effectively.
- Collaborate with the design team to ensure our visual effects provide needed gameplay feedback.
- Respond to feedback appropriately and iterate on assets as needed.
Qualifications
- VFX art experience in games or equivalent technical field. We are happy to consider talented artists with a strong portfolio over experience.
- Proficient in a 3d package of choice (3ds Max / Houdini / Maya / Blender etc.)
- Proficient in a 2d package of choice (Photoshop / After Effects / Substance etc.)
- Ability to adapt to different visual styles.
- Skilled at optimization and working within the performance limitations of target platforms.
Preferences
- Expressive and clear style of visual effects.
- Experience with geometry based visual effects.
- Familiarity with Unreal Engine.
We make games that are accessible and engaging for players all over the world. We believe in hiring and supporting the most talented and creative people of diverse backgrounds. That support includes annual professional development and home office stipends, as well as paid time off for volunteer/non-profit work. Join us and be a part of our growing and innovative studio.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.
Engineering: Senior Gameplay Engineer
Unknown Worlds is looking for a senior gameplay engineer to build new play experiences for the next game in the Subnautica universe.
The senior gameplay engineer is responsible for developing and maintaining game software. This includes designing, developing, and debugging systems and major features, working with design and mentoring more junior programmers. The role requires extensive experience with Unreal Engine and C++.
This is a remote position on a fully remote team.
Responsibilities
- Lead the software development effort for major gameplay systems and features.
- Architect, develop, and maintain flexible, extensible solutions and tools to empower other developers.
- Coach junior programmers and promote team growth.
- Optimize game code to meet project performance and memory requirements.
- Collaborate closely with other disciplines to understand and best implement features.
- Work with producers and quality assurance to ensure product quality and stability.
Qualifications
- Strong knowledge of Unreal Engine and C++.
- Strong knowledge of scripting languages (Blueprint, C#, Python, etc).
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, and 5+ years experience developing software, at least 3 of which were in game development using Unreal Engine.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- At least one shipped title on modern game platforms.
Preferences
- Experience with live service game development.
- Personal or professional interest in game design, player experience, and creative expression in gameplay.
- Experience with automated build systems and unit test frameworks.
- Multiple shipped titles on modern game platforms (PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch).
- Excitement about finding solutions for challenging, open-ended problems.
We make games that are accessible and engaging for players all over the world. We believe in hiring and supporting the most talented and creative people of diverse backgrounds. That support includes annual professional development and home office stipends, as well as paid time off for volunteer/non-profit work. Join us and be a part of our growing and innovative studio.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.
Engineering: Senior Mobile Engineer
Unknown Worlds is looking for a senior engineer with familiarity in Unity and a strong background in mobile development to join our team on a new unannounced game and IP. The senior mobile developer will maintain and augment core game systems with an eye on performance and stability.
This is a remote position on a fully remote team.
Responsibilities
- Implement and modify features for the game including mobile specific UI and UX features.
- Monitor and maintain the stability of our mobile code base on the project.
- Build and maintain debugging and profiling tools for our mobile platforms.
- Assist the team with identifying and implementing necessary optimizations to deliver the best version of the game possible on mobile platforms.
- Collaborate with engineering and other disciplines to ensure that mobile platforms are being considered when making design and technical decisions.
Qualifications
- iOS or Android mobile development experience in Unity.
- Solid understanding of algorithms, performance, and debugging.
- 5+ years experience developing games or software applications.
- Shipped products across multiple mobile platforms with involvement in every stage of the development process.
- Experience using profiling tools to identify performance and memory issues.
- Experience working across disciplines to implement optimizations to achieve performance goals.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Preferences
- Experience with live service game development.
- Experience with automated build systems and unit test frameworks.
- Experience with multi-threaded programming, profiling, and optimization techniques.
- Familiarity with common mobile development challenges including UI/UX implementation.
We make games that are accessible and engaging for players all over the world. We believe in hiring and supporting the most talented and creative people of diverse backgrounds. That support includes annual professional development and home office stipends, as well as paid time off for volunteer/non-profit work. Join us and be a part of our growing and innovative studio.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.
Engineering: Senior Systems Engineer
Unknown Worlds is looking for a senior systems engineer to help build the technology for our next game in the Subnautica universe.
The candidate will build and maintain core systems with an eye on performance, stability and maintainability. They are responsible for maximizing performance of PC and console platforms through profiling and optimizing low-level engine code, memory usage and world streaming.
This is a remote position on a fully remote team.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate with engineers and the other disciplines to problem solve and meet creative goals within the technical constraints of the project.
- Enhance the Unreal source engine as necessary to support game and overarching company technology base.
- Build and maintain debugging and profiling tools.
- Review code and mentor other engineers on the team.
- Write documentation on systems for designers, QA, and other engineers.
- Assume ownership for core systems, such as world streaming, networking, console development, or serialization.
Qualifications
- Expert level Unreal Engine and C++ knowledge.
- Extensive knowledge with scripting languages (Blueprint, C#, Python, etc).
- Experience with the Unreal Engine component system and plugin/module development.
- Solid understanding of algorithms, performance, and debugging.
- Shipped products across multiple platforms with involvement in every stage of the development process.
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field, and 8+ years experience developing software, at least 5 of which were in game development, using Unreal Engine.
- Experience using profiling tools to identify performance issues on client and server.
- Experience working across disciplines to implement optimizations to achieve performance goals.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Preferences
- Current generation console development experience.
- Experience with live service game development.
- Experience with automated build systems and unit test frameworks.
- Experience with multi-threaded programming, profiling, and optimization techniques.
- Experience with asset streaming and dynamic loading pipelines.
We make games that are accessible and engaging for players all over the world. We believe in hiring and supporting the most talented and creative people of diverse backgrounds. That support includes annual professional development and home office stipends, as well as paid time off for volunteer/non-profit work. Join us and be a part of our growing and innovative studio.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.
Producer
Unknown Worlds is seeking a producer to work on our recently announced title, Moonbreaker. Our ideal candidate is a collaborator, facilitator, and force-multiplier. They are highly emotionally intelligent, organized and passionate about making games . They are experienced in building pipelines, assessing priority, and empowering teams to do their best work.
This is a remote position on a fully remote team.
Responsibilities
- Oversee projects of all shapes and sizes. The producer works with leads to establish and execute development goals.
- Establish a cohesive, stable process for the game’s development in service of the creative vision.
- Build and manage schedules. The producer owns and maintains a project roadmap in collaboration with key stakeholders.
- Coach and mentor. The producer works with individuals to establish expectations, build on areas of strength, and address necessary improvements.
- Identify and address risks, staffing deficiencies, and other areas for improvement and growth across the project and studio.
- Manage key relationships on the project, including development partners and publishers.
Qualifications
- Deep understanding of project management methodologies and game development process.
- Excellent situational awareness and judgment. The ability to demonstrate both qualities in high pressure situations.
- Strong desire to coach and grow individual contributors and teams.
- Strong written and verbal communication. Strong relationship skills; the ability to manage up and down, internally and with external partners.
- Ability to lead and empower teams towards a set of shared and agreed upon goals.
Preferences
- Experience shipping one or more games in a production role.
- Experience with multi platform development, including consoles.
- Experience managing external partners and vendors.
- Experience supervising one or more direct reports.
We make games that are accessible and engaging for players all over the world. We believe in hiring and supporting the most talented and creative people of diverse backgrounds. That support includes annual professional development and home office stipends, as well as paid time off for volunteer/non-profit work. Join us and be a part of our growing and innovative studio.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.
Who We Are
How We Work
As a fully remote studio we support a self-directed, self-managed approach to our work. We rely on real time communication tools like Slack and video chat to stay connected. We have regular team wide retreats in beautiful locations all over the world to regroup, plan, hang out and recharge. Our teams work together to set high level goals and each person determines how they can best contribute to achieving the objective.
Who you are
Our ideal candidate is passionate, self-motivated, versatile and eager to grow. We are looking for developers who are excited to be involved in their projects and take personal ownership in their work. At Unknown Worlds everyone is encouraged to collaborate on all aspects of the games we’re creating. All our team members have a strong passion for their craft, and love making games.
Diversity & Inclusion
At Unknown Worlds, we pride ourselves on being a globally based and represented team. As such, we are committed to diversity as one of our core values. However, we also have the responsibility to ensure that our values translate into concrete actions: what games we make, how we make them, and how we hire our people. We pledge to carry out this effort in earnest, with an open mind and with the intention to improve this industry for everyone. We’re dedicated to working towards that goal in many ways, and improve some things we’re already doing. We believe this is long overdue, and will ultimately broaden the perspective and creativity of our games. We understand that this means on-going commitment, education, discussion, and outside advice where necessary.
Our Commitments
The following commitments are not comprehensive (our aim is progress, not perfection!), but represent what we intend to develop, improve, and build on over time.
- We are committed to making games that speak to a diverse audience and promote shared experiences across differences in age, race, gender, sexuality, and mental or physical ability.
- We will continue to commit a portion of Unknown Worlds’ yearly profits to charitable organizations.
- We will continue to reserve time each year for full-time team members to volunteer-work of their choosing.
- We are committed to supporting policies and organizations that build equity for marginalized groups.
- We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where we combat perfectionism with a culture of appreciation, understand the connection between defensiveness and fear, and value teamwork over individualism.
- We will continue to provide an annual education budget for full-time team members for their continued development.
- We are committed to looking at our team’s diversity at all levels, including ways in which we can make the hiring and game development processes more inclusive.
- We are committed to reviewing our business network to include partners from diverse backgrounds.
Organizations We Support
We have always felt strongly about giving back to communities and causes that reflect our values, and every year our team works together to choose them. Below are some of the organizations we currently support, either through donations, sponsorship, volunteering, or partnership.
- Action Against Hunger. This donation was made possible thanks to all of the incredible members of the Subnautica community who participated in the ‘Go Play Inside’ bundle back in April 2020. The funds will be put towards expanding water, sanitation, hygiene, and health programs in hard-to-reach areas and vulnerable communities, who have been deeply affected by the pandemic.
- San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. With an office based in San Francisco, we wanted to give back to our local community, for those facing food scarcity in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. As the premier legal organization in America fighting for racial justice, through litigation, advocacy, and public education, we wanted to contribute to help the LDF continue to seek structural changes and work towards their goal of equality for all Americans.
- Game Devs of Color Expo as a Collaborating Sponsor. The Game Devs of Color Expo is a space to enlighten and unite people of all genders, races, abilities, sexual orientations and religions.The 2020 Expo was fully virtual, due to the pandemic, and seeked to help new and experienced game developers share, learn and connect in unique ways.
- National Center for Transgender Equality. Working at the local, state, and federal levels to change laws, policies and society, the NCTE seeks to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice for transgender people.