Lead Writer (Video Games)

Job Title: Lead Writer
Reporting To: CEO
Location: Remote
Salary: $75,000-$110,000

Overview

We’re a small team with big ideas. Sky Castle Studios is a fully remote company, centered in Santa Monica, California. We’re a group of talented artists, developers, character riggers, 3D modelers, in-house customer service agents, gamers and nerds of all stripes. When we’re not brainstorming and creating new platforms, we take time to discuss and enjoy the latest developments in geek culture, explore new technologies, and celebrate our creative endeavors!

We’re looking for game changers–those self-starters who know how to take initiative. You can expect to have a decent amount of autonomy in your work and in your work day. We won’t be looking over your shoulder, unless you’re showing us the cool new thing you just designed.

Our bread and butter is heroforge.com but we’re often expanding to other products and websites as well.

Visit our Career Page for a full list of open positions at Hero Forge®!

Benefits

Sky Castle Studios offers a comprehensive suite of benefits including:

• Parental leave benefits, including 8 weeks of paid leave, 8 weeks of unpaid leave, and 8 weeks of flexible scheduling.
• 15 days of paid vacation accrued per year.
• 11 paid company holidays per year, plus a week of paid summer vacation and a week of paid holiday vacation.
• Education reimbursement.
• Health, vision, and dental insurance coverage for all US employees.
• 80 hours of paid sick time per year.
• Membership to One Medical if available in your city.
• Reproductive health travel coverage.
• A generous home office reimbursement stipend, which can be used for internet and phone expenses as well as technology, office furniture, and more.
• Free Hero Forge Minis
• 401k with 6% company matching for US employees after 6 months.

Lead Writer :

Sky Castle Studios is currently seeking a creative and resourceful Lead Video Game Writer with a clear talent for composing compelling storylines as well as developing the stories' characters, dialogue, and backstory details with an iterative approach to development, a collaborative spirit, excellent communication skills, and an enthusiasm for RPG and turn-based video games.

The ideal candidate enjoys working with talented engineers, designers, writers, artists, and management, and has a drive to create a fun and cohesive gameplay experience with the ability to empathize with both new players and with experts of the genre. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of writing and story structure.

Lead Writer Responsibilities:

• Balance and prioritize tasks to meet deadlines, working within agreed timeframes and budgets
• Participate in game testing and feedback
• Identify compelling characters, events, and places within a fantasy setting for inclusion within the game’s story
• Help to create and maintain project documentation regarding narrative, including character and location profiles, subplot summaries, and the like
• Actively collaborate with the rest of the Development Team, openly communicating progress and problems, helping us set realistic project timelines and expectations
• Work with leadership to define and structure a story in a non-linear format for use within a new video game and write substories within the overall game story
• Engage in all aspects of the game narrative including dialogs, cutscenes, intros and outros, as well as environmental storytelling
• Ensure that the narrative elements are organized and oversee their implementation in the game
• Work with the Art Team to maintain narrative quality throughout the development process

Lead Writer Requirements:

• Strong self-discipline, motivated, a self-starter with a drive for excellence
• Able to work effectively with people having a variety of personalities and backgrounds
• Organized, detail-oriented, able to work fast and loose or carefully with quality when each is needed
• Excellent written, visual, and verbal English language communication and presentation skills
• Must have successfully shipped a AA or AAA game in the role of writer
• Passionate about learning new tools and technologies
• 5+ years of professional experience as a video game writer
• An experienced gamer with a passion for video games as a storytelling medium
• Able to work remotely using various collaboration tools
• Excellent problem-solving skills, resourceful, able to find solutions when needed
• A strong researcher with a passion for fantasy lore and an attention to detail
• Enthusiastic for quality gameplay and a familiarity with many games and genres, both past and present
• Ability to work autonomously and manage your own workload

At Sky Castle Studios, diversity is not just a core value, but a foundation of what we do. We strive to embrace our differences in the workplace, and to promote respectful representation of all people through the work we do and the content we create. Diversity brings fresh perspectives that help us to better serve our community. Wherever you come from, and whatever background you bring, we’re excited to hear from you!

Sky Castle Studios is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religious creed, observance, or practice, color, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, military and veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

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