Train2Game News: Mid-week round up – 12.12.12

The Train2Game blog has once again been searching the internet and has found some of the biggest news from across the week.

The Rapid2D engine has gone live as of yesterday following its demonstration at the Evolve conference in London. Rapid2D is designed to help developers create apps for PC, tablet and Windows Phone 8 through the Windows 8 Marketplace. The engine uses C++ for scripting, and includes features such as physics, visual effects, sound particle systems, collision control and animated sprites. As well as the free version of Rapid2D, there will also be extra add-ons, upgrades and a pro-version available to developers.

Randy Pitchford, one of the developers behind Borderlands 2 has confirmed that there will be a new character class coming as DLC. Mr Pitchford previously said it was unlikely because of the amount of extra work the Mechromancer class took. The news was revealed after someone tweeted the developer saying “My mate says you won’t” to which Randy replied, “yes – we’re working on another character.” It’s as simple as that.

PopCap, the team behind hit casual games such as Plants v Zombies has announced that they are now working on a AAA title. The news comes following a tweet and job posting from PopCap. The game is a console game, inspired by Team Fortress 2. The job posting confirms that the game will use the Frostbite 2 engine, which is becoming more and more popular.

The final issues of PSM3 and Xbox World have gone on sale today. One of the many features in the last PSM3 magazine is a feature written by editor Dan Dawkins talking about the making of’ PSM3, office secrets, the highs and lows, how things have changed and how the future looks. Meanwhile Xbox World rounds up the biggest, loudest, saddest, funniest, most shocking moments in Xbox history and gives GTA5, arguably the biggest Xbox game of 2013, one final, epic preview.

Rovio has announced plans to release an Angry Birds feature film in the summer of 2016 and it will be in 3D so you can feel what those bad piggies go through. Despicable Me producer John Cohen has signed on as producer for the CG-animated movie, while David Maisel, former chairman of Marvel Studios and executive producer of Iron Man, will serve as executive producer. The movie will be produced and financed by Rovio outside of the studio system, allowing the Finnish company to retain full creative control of the project. Over 100 billion Angry Birds games have been downloaded since the games début in 2009.

Train2Game News: Games Industry Jobs – 11.12.12

Train2Game has searched around to find you some of the entry level jobs in Art, Design, Development and QA.

ART

Job Title Junior Artist
Job Category Art / Animation
Skills Required Graduate Artist
Location Old Street, London, UK & Europe
Job Description Sports Interactive (SI) is the world’s leading developer of football management simulations through its Football Manager series of games, in its twentieth anniversary year. With one of the lowest staff turnover rates in the industry, and regular appearances at the top of the PC, PSP and App Store charts around Europe, this is a chance to join a winning team.

Position Overview
We are looking for an artist to join our graphics team in a junior role, helping with the creation and implementation of assets and graphical content in our games.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Dealing with licensing and asset creation for the game
  • Creating graphical content for the game
  • Assisting in the development of content across numerous platforms.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE  

  • Proficient with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator
  • Experience creating graphical content for games (either professionally or within a gaming community)
  • Portfolio required

DESIRABLE

  • Basic knowledge of HTML and/or XML
  • Web design experience
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills
  • Interest in football.

You can apply HERE.

DEVELOPER

Job Title Games Programmer – iOS / Android
Job Category Programming
Skills Required AI / Artificial Intelligence, Tools, Gameplay, Mobile / iOS / Android, Graphics / Engine, Core Technology, UI / Front End, Graduate Programmer
Location Brighton
Job Description Boss Alien are a growing company working on exciting projects with small team sizes. We need programmers who are happy to work in whatever area is required of them – this could change on a daily basis!

We are looking for smart, energetic, friendly people to join us!

Required:

  • 2.1 degree in Maths, Physics, Computer Science or related, or equivalent industry experience
  • Excellent knowledge of C# or C++
  • Excellent knowledge of algorithms and data structures
  • Experience of creating games on desktop or mobile platforms
  • Desire to make great games
  • Great communication skills (verbal and written)
  • Happy to work as part of a team
  • Demonstrable love for some area of game technology
  • A passion for playing games and solving problems
  • Flexible and keen to learn new skills

Great to have:

  • Knowledge of two or more other programming languages (for example Java, Python, PHP, Clojure)
  • 1 or more years of games industry experience
  • 1 or more shipped titles on console, desktop or mobile platforms
  • Strong knowledge of console, desktop and mobile architectures
  • Knowledge of asynchronous engineering techniques
  • Experience of Unity, Unreal or XNA
  • SQL
  • Experience using digital content creation tools (for example Max, Maya, Photoshop)

    Find out more about us at www.bossalien.com

    Junior / Graduate Programmers with relevant demos and a positive attitude are encouraged to apply!

DESIGN

Job Title MMO Game Designer – Celtic Heroes – Groundbreaking MMORPG !
Job Category Game Design
Skills Required Games Designer, Level Designer, Graduate Game Designer
Location Glasgow
Job Description The team behind ‘Celtic Heroes’ are looking for a creative MMO Game Designer to join their team.

As MMO Game Designer you will have the responsibility of designing and evolving the very experiences our players engage in. You must have massive passion in the MMORPG genre and fully understand the successful game mechanics and quest design that equally challenges and rewards the player.

You must be a creative thinker with the ability to rationalise your ideas into practical game play experiences. You must be a strong communicator at ease working within a development team. A strong portfolio of game design examples in the same genre of ‘Celtic Heroes’ is a MUST!

If you have the skills, qualifications, experience and a passion for playing our kind of games, we would love to hear from you. To APPLY direct online simply follow this link http://bit.ly/joinourclan

Set in an exciting medieval Celtic world of combat, magic and mythology, ‘Celtic Heroes’ is a fully 3D MMORPG available for iPhone, iPod and iPad. Play as a customisable warrior, mage, rogue, ranger or druid. Gain powerful new weapons, armour and items as you explore the vast world of castles, dungeons and outdoor environments. Battle fearsome enemies and complete heroic quests!

NOTE: Must be able to demonstrate eligibility and VALID WORKING VISA to work in the United Kingdom and be willing to relocate / commute to the Glasgow area

QA

Job Title Games Tester
Job Category QA / Localisation
Skills Required QA Tester
Location UK & Europe
Job Description Position Overview:

The Games Tester position is a responsible job; reporting bugs and providing quality feedback for our titles in development. These fixed term contracts are for our established Total Warteam, testing our project currently in development.

  • Test games in development for  software bugs
  • Enter bugs clearly and accurately into our bug database
  • Verify and recreate bugs as required
  • Report additional balancing, design and accessibility problems
  • Specific support and general roles available

Essential

  • A clear understanding of QA process
  • A keen enthusiasm for gaming
  • Good communication and  reporting skills
  • Driven and flexible approach

Desirable

  • A clear understanding of QA process
  • A keen enthusiasm for gaming
  • Good communication and  reporting skills
  • Driven and flexible approach
  • Experience of testing one full shipped title
  • A good  understanding of Strategy games (Total War)
  • Games industry related degree (e.g. audio, art, design, etc.) or expertise in a specific  game area is an asset (e.g. audio, technical, PC hardware, design or scripting etc.)
  • Fluent in one or more of the following languages: French, German, Italian or Spanish
  • Strong technical knowledge/skills (e.g. programming, scripting)

You will need to be available to start by December 2012.
PLEASE ENSURE A COVERING LETTER IS INCLUDED WITH YOUR CV APPLICATION

 

You can apply HERE.

Train2Game News: Valve gaming PC in the works

Valve LogoAfter some research Train2Game has found that Valve Software are working on their own proprietary hardware, optimised for gaming.

The recently released Steam Big Picture mode was a first step in this process. The next step is incorporating Linux and making all of that work towards developing a PC package of their own. That means a ready-made PC that comes with Steam and can be hooked up to your television set.

Gabe Newell has shed some more light on his company’s plans. Newell said “I think in general that most customers and most developers are going to find that the PC is a better environment for them because they won’t have to split the world into thinking about ‘why are my friends in the living room, why are my video sources in the living room different from everyone else?’ So in a sense we hopefully are going to unify those environments.

“Certainly our hardware will be a very controlled environment. If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that’s what some people are really going to want for their living rooms.

“We’ll do it but we also think other people will as well.”

This last sentence indicates that Mr Newell believes this may be the next big move in the games industry. A move like this could truly revitalise living room gaming.

Train2Game News: UK Top 20 – 10.12.12

Only one new entry breached the top 20 this week and that was Sonic & All Star Racing Transformed which came in at number 16. Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 is still sitting high at the number 1 slot. The biggest change this week is that THQ’s WWE ’13 rose from 15 up to number 10.

Week ending 8 December 2012

POS.  TITLE 

PUBLISHER

 LAST
WEEK 

1

– 

CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS II

ACTIVISION

1

2

– 

FAR CRY 3

UBISOFT

2

3

– 

FIFA 13

EA SPORTS

3

4

JUST DANCE 4

UBISOFT

6

5

– 

ASSASSIN’S CREED III

UBISOFT

5

6

HITMAN ABSOLUTION

SQUARE ENIX

4

7

HALO 4

MICROSOFT

8

8

NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED

EA GAMES

10

9

LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS

WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE

7

10

WWE ’13

THQ

15

11

SKYLANDERS GIANTS

SKYLANDERS

9

12

MOSHI MONSTERS: MOSHLINGS THEME PARK

MIND CANDY

16

13

MEDAL OF HONOR: WARFIGHTER

EA GAMES

18

14

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2013

SEGA

13

15

THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM

BETHESDA SOFTWORKS

16

SONIC & ALL STARS RACING TRANSFORMED

SEGA

17

NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. 2

NINTENDO

19

18

LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES

WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE

19

F1 2012

CODEMASTERS

20

DISHONORED

BETHESDA SOFTWORKS

12

Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2012 UKIE Ltd

Train2Game News: Trailers from the Video Game Awards

VGAThe Video Game Awards were held over the weekend and a number of new trailers were shown for some of the big games coming next year. The Train2Game blog has rounded them all up for you here.

The first one is for the new South Park game, The Stick of Truth. This game looks stunning and it is going to make a lot of South Park fans very happy. It looks so like an episode it is hard to see where the cut scenes end and the game play begins.

This trailer is obviously 18+. Do Not Watch if easily offended.

Next up is the trailer from Tomb Raider: Survivor. This game is again stunning to look at and looks to be action packed and innovative in it’s adventure. You get to see Lara Croft grow up from a girl fresh out of school to the Archaeologist we are familiar with. I haven’t played many Tomb Raider games personally but I am looking forward to this one, even more so following this trailer.

Finally it was revealed last night that a sequel is coming for one of the most brutally difficutly games their has been in recent years. Dark Souls 2 is coming and it is going to be as ruthless as ever

Train2Game News: Art exhibition raises over £21,000 for SpecialEffect

Death of the JokerTrain2game has been told that the London games festival Art Exhibition has raised over £21,000 as the auction enters the final stages.

The art exhibition was held to raise money for the charity, SpecialEffect who help many people with disabilities to be able to play their favourite games with their friends and family.

Some of the pieces of art that are on sale include the stunning Joker’s Death concept sketch from Batman: Arkham City, a fantastic New Super Mario Bros composite, and a huge signed Football Manager 2013 canvass.

As it stands at the moment it looks like the auctions are going to make over £25,000 for the charity which will help them to help more people to play games.

Kirsty Payne, event director of the London Games Festival where the exhibition is taking place said “The response has been overwhelming! The exhibition attracted a huge amount of interest whilst it was being held – but even we have been astonished by the amount people are pledging for these wonderful and rare pieces of art. We’ve just unveiled the final batch of exhibits to go under the hammer, so there’s just over a week left to win a stunning one-of-a-kind exhibit, make someone’s Christmas even more special – and donate to a wonderful charity.“

Mick Donegan, SpecialEffect CEO said “Our huge thanks go to Kirsty Payne, her team and every single artist and software house for making this wonderful idea a reality. It has made an amazing and instant impact on our work. Earlier today I saw a blog from a guy with muscular dystrophy we assessed near Liverpool just a couple of days ago: ‘…Just had a meeting with SpecialEffect fantastic charity – will make a huge difference in the quality of my life – need to raise the funds for my controller and some for others less fortunate…’ Well, this much-needed boost to SpecialEffect’s funds not only means we’ll be able to buy that special loan controller for Lee right now but also for the many of the others he talks about too. Just as important, we’ll be able to take on more specialist time to help with our essential assessment and support work, too. For the people that SpecialEffect help, both right now and into the future, there really couldn’t be a more welcome Christmas present!”

The London Games Festival art auction is running through until December 12 and you can check out some of the art by visiting www.londongamesart.com

You can continue to help SpecialEffect by watching and sharing the video below and help them reach their target of 25,000 views by Christmas day!

Train2Game News: Microsoft opening new Development Centre in London

Tech CityThe Train2Game researchers have found that Microsoft is opening up a new Development centre in the heart of London.

Prime Minister David Cameron today announced a major Government investment in Tech City. The Government will put £50m towards a visionary project to regenerate the Old Street roundabout, which will see it transformed into Europe’s largest indoor civic space, dedicated to start-ups and entrepreneurs in East London. This new civic building will host classrooms, co-working spaces and workshops equipped with the latest 3D printing technology, for use by both the local start-ups and the wider community.

One of the new additions to Tech City will be from Microsoft. They are establishing a Technology Development Centre in the heart of Tech City as part of their commitment to the cluster and will support local technology development. Microsoft’s hope is to work to inspire innovation and provide expertise and guidance to those with new and innovative ideas. They will create packages of support for Developer Apprentices and are working on a new Apprenticeship to support young people in and around Tech City.

Prime Minister David Cameron said “Two years ago I set out my commitment to help Tech City become one of the world’s great technology centres. Today we are seeing it continue to grow and go from strength to strength – and that is down to the talented, creative entrepreneurs who have set up there. The UK is in a global race and I am determined that we as a Government continue doing everything we can to equip the UK to compete and thrive in that race. As well as backing the businesses of today, we are creating an aspiration nation and also backing the innovative, high-growth businesses of the future.”

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, added “The time is right to lay solid foundations in Tech City for London’s digital revolution, and this list of major new firms committing to the area is a testament to the confidence leading tech entrepreneurs have in the capital. Our new centre will provide not only a vital resource to nurture upcoming technology and creative superstars from around the world, it will drive huge investment into the capital and help create thousands of jobs.”

You can find out more about Tech City at their website.

Train2Game News: Mid-week round up – 06.12.12

The Train2Game team has searched around and found some of the exciting news from this week.

343 Industries, who recently released Halo 4, have said that they are in early stages of developing a new Halo. Frank O’Connor, the franchise development director for Halo, said that “a lot of people at 343 are already prototyping ideas and software and art for future Halo products”. Many within the 343 Industries studio are still working on post launch content for Halo 4.

Sega has revealed a new partnership with Games Workshop which will see Total War developer Creative Assembly making multiple titles set in the Warhammer fantasy universe. Creative Assembly studio director Tim Heaton said: “With this year being our 25th anniversary, it seems fitting for us to embark on such a dream project with such a well-established partner. The incredibly rich and detailed Warhammer world is something we grew up with, and has left an indelible imprint on us as both designers and gamers.”

Sony Pictures Consumer Products has teamed up with Capcom-owned developer Beeline Interactive to produce an Android and iOS Ghostbusters game, targeting an ‘early 2013’ release. The new Ghostbusters will be a ‘freemium’ title based on the popular eighties movies. The players will play the role of “a fledgling Ghostbuster. Who ya gunna call?

UK celebrity, chat show host and film critic Jonathan Ross has opened a new game development studio named Hotsauce Interactive, based in Candem, North London. The outfit is part of Ross’ TV production company Hotsauce, and has already released its debut game, Cacha Cacha Aliens for iOS. It is understood that Hotsauce Interactive is staffed by a number of experienced developers and the studio may look into releasing games on hand-held and console in the future.

Customers of Valve’s Steam digital distribution service can now play their PC games on a TV. The much anticipated Big Picture mode has been in beta for some time, but has only now seen public release. Big Picture is designed to be compatible with gamepads, but also supports the use of a Mouse and Keyboard. To celebrate, Valve has placed over thirty “controller-friendly” games on sale.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 made $1 billion a day quicker than Modern Warfare 3, Activision has announced. That’s $1 billion in worldwide retail sales in 15 days since launch, based on Chart-Track and internal figures. Modern Warfare 3 took 16 days to cross the $1 billion mark. For comparison, James Cameron’s Avatar made $1 billion in 17 days. Since launch, more than 150 million hours have been logged online playing the game on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network.

Kickstarter’s United Kingdom operation has reached £2,069,164 in pledges since its launch late in October. 45,799 backers contributed to the £2 million, with 30 projects having successfully ended their funding drive out of 407 launched. Of those backers, 39 percent came from the UK.

Train2Game News: Student Diaries – 06.12.12

Amanda Blatch Week 11

Another diary, another week! Not really sure what there is to say. It was a very long  week full of hard work and more UI! Fortunately I have had my week mixed up a little by being given some new characters for additional game content to design, vector, cut and rig. They’re coming along very nicely now and I’m just about to finish work on my second of what I believe to be at least four new additions to the final game. Friday was very exciting though, we all had a big group meeting with everyone making the game to have their say about what we have achieved so far and how to improve on top of that, we did more work, went home then went out for a meal with everyone.

Unfortunately not much else on the in-studio stuff to talk about and I haven’t been working on too much in my spare time since I reignited the desperate need to get through Section 2 of my course so to remain on track and continue learning other game-making techniques that I may not see in the studio on a daily basis. But that’s it for now.. Maybe next week I’ll have something new to chat about. Tarra for now!

Craig Moore Week 54

It’s Friday, and everything is a bit of a blur!

Firstly work, it’s been an incredibly busy week; the pressure is really on to get the many aspects of the game finished and the time left to do them is getting ever so smaller.

We have had a really productive week bouncing between myself and two of the other guys to crack down a certain element of the game and get it well and truly finished. As with the way development goes, I guess, we just fell short but we did get a lot done and it is much better for it.

Next week the plan is to continue this three pronged approach and hit two more aspects of the game on the head. It really is at the stage where there are a few elements that just need tying together to really make it shine!

In other news I managed to snag myself a brand new Wii-U yesterday, a day before release; thanks to Shopto.net’s awesome pre-order service. I got the ZombiU special edition, but have only managed to play it for an hour or so. My Initial thoughts are positive, I’m certainly looking forward to what they come up with and the underlying potential is incredible! I read somewhere about Unity being a developer option and would love to take advantage of that somewhere down the line.

Craig

Matty WS Week 52

This week has been a bit mad, lots of things to do. I’m now going through all of the images in the game and “unifying” them, making them all the correct sizes and removing the background solid colour. We had a late night on Thursday and had some takeaway. Suffice to say there are a lot of images in the game so I’ve been kept busy. I still need to continue on Monday morning to get it all done.

In other news, I got hold of an iPad mini this week which is very nice indeed, it means I can play the games we make regardless of what devices I have or if they aren’t compatible, and it will help me see what competition is out there. So I am a happy Matty this week!

I went home to Southampton this weekend and played many games (including our own). The game we’re making as we speak is plodding along nicely and will be out very soon hopefully. I’m sure you’ll all be just as excited as we are when the game hits the metaphorical shelves. More next week!

MattyWS

Train2Game News: Games Industry Jobs – 5.12.12

The Train2Game blog has found more jobs for you to apply for to hopefully get that foot in the door.

Art

Job Title     Junior 3D Artist
Job Category     Art / Animation
Skills Required     Character Artist, Vehicle Artist, Environment Artist, 2D / Concept / Texture Artist, Technical Artist
Location     Brighton
Job Description     Come and join the Futur!

The team behind the critically acclaimed Velocity is looking for a talented Junior 3D Artist!

We are primarily looking for someone with demonstrable experience modeling and texturing of vehicles for use in a game engine such as Unity.

As Junior Artist you will be required to concept and model a number of vehicles as well as adopting the in house art style to create 2D game assets. You will therefore need to demonstrate a strong ability in both 3D asset creation and 2D illustration skills. The role will require closely working with all other members of the team to ensure high standards of presentation are maintained across each project.

This role is suited towards a highly motivated and talented recent graduate. While industry experience is not required, working knowledge of industry standard art creation software is.

Requirements include:

Excellent 3D modeling and texturing ability.
A strong interest in sci-fi and predominately vehicle design.
Strong 2D illustration skills a must.
Animation skills a plus.
General understanding of game design and development.
Ability to work both individually and in a small team.
Excellent communication skills with a friendly and positive demeanour.
Self motivating and diligent.

You must be excited about working in the sci-fi genre and have a strong portfolio that demonstrates both 3D vehicles and 2D illustrative skills. (Please note that if your portfolio does not contain examples of both then unfortunately, it will be automatically rejected without reply).

If you have the demonstrable skills, experience and passion for futuristic games then please get in touch as we’d love to hear from you! Please email your latest CV and a cover letter along with your portfolio to jobs@futurlab.co.uk. Please be aware that all suitable candidates will be asked to take an art test.

We’re a small and friendly team and we’re about to grow. This is a great opportunity for someone to be involved right at the beginning of the next exciting chapter of our story.

Design

Job Title     Game Designer – IEB Microsoft Studios Soho (818909) Job
Job Category     Game Design
Skills Required     Game Design
Division Interactive Entertainment Business
Location Soho, London

Role Purpose
Do you love designing fun high quality games and experiences?
We are looking for an enthusiastic and talented game designer to join our growing multi-disciplinary team. The game designer will have the opportunity to engage in the exciting process of creating and maintaining games (including new IP). The game designer will be a member of the creative team working with the creative director. The ideal candidate must have a full understanding of the design vision and business model, be able to communicate it to the team and be responsible for the creation and maintenance of all game design documents and their execution.

Team/Department Mission
This role is part of a Microsoft Studios team creating games and entertainment services influenced by changing consumer consumption and emerging business models. Part of its purpose will be to showcase functionality of Microsoft platforms but the primary goal is to establish new entertainment franchises. The ethos of this team is to be distinctive, deliberate and disruptive. It has large ambitions.

Key Accountabilities:
– Drive game design and communicate across the team. Know the game inside out.
– Communicate major design decisions and issues with the creative director and executive producer.
– Work with technical, art and audio leads to realize the game design vision.
– Produce and roll out prototypes and design documents.
– Review work as it is implemented to ensure that it fits the design vision and is of the quality desired.
– Assist with the development of design team systems and tools.
– Test the game to ensure it is playable and fun.
– Support user testing and data gathering to continually improve the game.

Key Success Criteria:
– Be a positive, active, and contributing team member.
– Create presentations that outline plans for game design.
– Be able to pitch/communicate new concepts, mechanics and business models.
– Liaise closely with other disciplines to realise a shared vision.
– Communicate complex dependencies falling out of design into art, tech, audio and UI.
– Continuously evaluate games in development and make tough decisions to focus on, iterate on or cut features in order to make the game better.
– Continuously familiarize yourself and the team with important developments in game design and production outside of the team/project.
– Work with gameplay developers to develop systems that support desired gameplay.
– Work with tools developers to develop tools and workflows that enable inspired creativity on the design team.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
– Strong communication skills across all disciplines and at all levels.
– Design experience on shipped AAA console products and/or Mobile/F2P.
– Strong technical skills and a basic understanding of programming or scripting.
– Outstanding verbal and written communication skills.
– Strong relationship-management skills.
– Passion for gaming, with excellent design insights across genres.
– Ability to produce articulate design documentation detailing innovative gameplay mechanics, character biographies, control systems, interface design, story lines and asset inventories.
– Willing to accept and provide direction, work well under pressure, and handle multiple tasks.
– Ability to work closely with all core development functions, as well as supporting functions.
– Comfortable with Unity, MS Word, MS Visio, MS Power Point.

You can apply HERE.

Developer

Job Title     Games Programmer – iOS / Android
Job Category     Programming
Skills Required     AI / Artificial Intelligence, Tools, Gameplay, Mobile / iOS / Android, Graphics / Engine, Core Technology, UI / Front End, Graduate Programmer
Location     Brighton
Job Description     Boss Alien are a growing company working on exciting projects with small team sizes. We need programmers who are happy to work in whatever area is required of them – this could change on a daily basis!

We are looking for smart, energetic, friendly people to join us!

Required:

2.1 degree in Maths, Physics, Computer Science or related, or equivalent industry experience
Excellent knowledge of C# or C++
Excellent knowledge of algorithms and data structures
Experience of creating games on desktop or mobile platforms
Desire to make great games
Great communication skills (verbal and written)
Happy to work as part of a team
Demonstrable love for some area of game technology
A passion for playing games and solving problems
Flexible and keen to learn new skills
Great to have:

Knowledge of two or more other programming languages (for example Java, Python, PHP, Clojure)
1 or more years of games industry experience
1 or more shipped titles on console, desktop or mobile platforms
Strong knowledge of console, desktop and mobile architectures
Knowledge of asynchronous engineering techniques
Experience of Unity, Unreal or XNA
SQL
Experience using digital content creation tools (for example Max, Maya, Photoshop)

Find out more about us and apply at www.bossalien.com

Junior / Graduate Programmers with relevant demos and a positive attitude are encouraged to apply!

QA

Location: Edinburgh
Salary: Competitive
Company: Rockstar North

Rockstar North is looking for enthusiastic and self-motivated individuals to join our Games Test teams in Edinburgh. You will be expected to play through our latest games looking for problems and reporting errors, to ensure game quality before release.

Responsibilities
You will be finding and reproducing bugs, errors or problems in-game as directed. The role will require accurate, detailed and complete reporting to the required standards and subsequent revision of those errors or problems.

Qualifications
Successful applicants will have excellent written and verbal communication skills and enjoy working as part of a team. You will have good general computer skills and be a confident learner working with word processing, databases and spreadsheets. You will be able to show consistent attention to detail and have the ability to remain focussed when approaching repetitive tasks. We will be looking for flexibility regarding unsociable and extended working hours to meet the demands of the role.

Additional Information
Candidates must be 18 years of age and above and provide two references. The position will be a full-time short term contract. Applicants will preferably be educated to further or higher education standards.

This is a two stage application process. You will first be asked to complete an application pack from which you may be asked to attend an interview.

PLEASE APPLY ONLINE VIA www.rockstargames.com/jobs