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Senior Gameplay Animator (Locomotion)

CD PROJEKT RED

Boston, MA Hybrid Full-time

Posted 2026-05-14

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Job Description

CD PROJEKT RED is looking for a Senior Gameplay Animator with a focus on locomotion to join our Boston hub and the team working on Cyberpunk 2, the next mainline Cyberpunk 2077 game. As a hands-on individual contributor, you will define the look and feel of player and NPC locomotion—from grounded movement to cybernetically motivated actions—for a high-quality animation experience. You will work from previsualization and prototyping through final in-engine implementation, collaborating with Art, Design, Technical Animation, and Engineering. Your goal will be to ensure animation content and runtime systems deliver a responsive, readable, and compelling player experience, setting the quality bar and best practices for locomotion animation across gameplay.

Daily Responsibilities:

•Drive locomotion animation quality for player and NPC movement across gameplay states and contexts.
•Partner with the Animation Lead and key stakeholders to align animation quality, style, and execution with the project's aesthetic goals, gameplay pillars, and overall player experience.
•Collaborate daily within a cross-disciplinary team to define gameplay experiential goals and deliver features from concept through final implementation.
•Create pre-visualizations and prototypes to assist in communication and development.
•Create high-quality finished animation using hand-keyed, procedurally generated animation, and motion capture techniques to achieve seamless, expressive, reactive movement.
•Implement and iterate within Unreal Engine to ensure locomotion animation feels responsive, readable, and polished in real-time gameplay.
•Research, explore and advocate new techniques, systems, and workflows to improve animation quality, efficiency, and support evolving gameplay and previsualization needs.
•Curate motion capture shot list and provide performance direction, preparing locomotion patterns and reference videos, and assisting on-stage as necessary.
•Provide clear feedback and animation insight during reviews and collaborations, helping raise quality.
•Provide mentorship, inspiration, and support to early-career animators through feedback, collaboration, and example.

Qualifications:

•5+ years of professional experience in gameplay animation development with major contributions to player locomotion.
•Experience on a shipped title with extensive 3Cs mechanics.
•Professional experience developing animation for locomotion in Unreal Engine (or comparable engines), including Animation Blueprints, state machines, animation montages, blend spaces, motion matching, Control Rig, and runtime animation behaviors.
•Proficient in 3D animation skills using Maya, MotionBuilder, or equivalent DCC tools.
•Solid animation fundamentals, including weight, timing, posing, and clarity.
•Ability to author hand-keyed animation and motion capture into compelling performances, refining motion capture to support gameplay dynamics while maintaining the integrity of the source.
•Deep understanding of body mechanics and physics as they relate to believable character movement and locomotion.
•Ability to deliver work in accordance with the artistic direction of the project.

Nice to Have:

•Experience directing motion capture, particularly for motion matching.
•Experience developing motion-matching locomotion systems.

Candidates should include a portfolio in their application.

Estimated pay range for this position: $95,000 - $174,000 USD annually