Manage procedural technical-art work and technical direction, combining Houdini leadership with DCC scripting and game-development knowledge.
GAME FREAK develops video games, including main-series Pokémon titles. Its work includes Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, an open-world role-playing game set in the Paldea region, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which combines action and role-playing around researching and catching Pokémon.
It also develops original games outside the Pokémon series. Additional downloadable content such as The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero expands Scarlet and Violet with the regions of Kitakami and Blueberry Academy, introducing further characters, Pokémon and stories.
- Salary range
- ¥4M – ¥12M
- Median
- ¥5M – ¥9M
- Remote or hybrid
- 93%
- Most requested
- C++ 10
- C# 3
- AWS 1
- Azure 1
- Git 1
- Google Cloud 1
- JLPT N1 3
- Japanese posting, level unstated 39
- Common areas
- DevOps 3
- Project management 2
- Backend engineering 1
- HR & recruiting 1
Measured from the 42 listings Ranked has live for GAME FREAK. Japanese level, visa signal and skills are AI-graded from each posting and can be wrong — confirm against the employer's original posting before applying.
42
open positions at GAME FREAK
Lead console-game effects for battles, environments and events, defining visual style, specifications, quality and production workflows.
Lead console-game design and multidisciplinary teams, combining planning, specifications and quality improvements with staff development.
Create in-game character animation and lead production, quality and staff development, drawing on at least two years of motion-design experience.
Lead console-game environment art, defining its style and specifications while managing quality, production pipelines and artists.
Lead human character modeling for console games, setting visual style and specifications while managing quality and production workflows.
Lead lighting for game environments and cutscenes, manage visual quality, and build lighting specifications and production workflows.
Develop game frameworks, an in-house engine and asset-creation tools, drawing on C++ development and library or tool implementation experience.
Lead DCC tool and plugin development, using advanced Maya Python tools, technical direction and broad knowledge of game-development workflows.
Lead gameplay programming and a development team, combining console-game implementation with progress management, evaluation and staff development.
Implement online game features and lead the team, coordinating planner requirements, server/API design partners and R&D environments.
Develop game worlds and character concepts, manage design quality and progress, and coordinate the team and external creators.
Research new online gameplay and develop console-game communication systems, using advanced systems programming and scalable-system implementation experience.
Lead game-development CI/CD, Kubernetes and hybrid infrastructure, combining monitoring and security work with team management.
Research, build and introduce Houdini procedural workflows, bringing graphic-design or programming experience and DCC script or plugin development skills.
Create concept art, character and environment designs and references for 3D models, using professional art experience and business Japanese.
Develop communication programming for console games, applying C++ and experience implementing peer-to-peer or client-server game clients.
Develop graphics libraries and tools and research visual techniques, using professional graphics-programming experience, C++ and DCC knowledge.
Build, optimize and operate console-game CI/CD environments, automating development setup with workflow tools and scripts; fully remote work is possible.
Support HR and recruitment across a game studio, coordinating hiring needs, agency relationships, recruitment communications and internal training.
Support Pokémon development schedules, staffing and budgets; a university degree, two years of work experience and problem-solving experience are required.
Create mainly human character models for console games, applying 3D modeling, skin weights and drawing skills to communicate visual intent.
Manage Pokémon development schedules, staffing and budgets while improving project operations; project or team-management experience qualifies.
Create human character models for console games, define style and specifications, and improve asset quality and production workflows.
Design console-game play, developing proposals and specifications, managing progress, creating data and improving game quality.
Create game character animation and shape its style, specifications and production workflow, with at least three years of animation experience.
Design and implement console-game gameplay, contributing to prototypes, planner requirements and new technical approaches.
Build Houdini procedural workflows, using graphic-design or programming experience, DCC scripting and basic game-asset production knowledge.
Develop DCC tools and plugins and support their operation, combining graphic-design or programming experience with game-asset production knowledge.
Manage office facilities, supplies and vendor arrangements, improve general-affairs processes, and oversee IT equipment, accounts and licenses.
Support console-game design through proposals, specifications, progress tracking, data creation, improvements and debugging.
Create effects for console-game battles, environments and event scenes, using model and texture skills gained in game or video production.
Animate in-game characters with Maya and MotionBuilder, bringing professional hand-keyed human-animation experience in 3D software.
Create concept art, character and environment designs and references for 3D models, using drawing, composition and 2D graphics skills.
Create console-game UI layouts, animation and icons; bring professional game UI experience, graphics-tool skills and UI/UX knowledge.
Create console-game map models and environments, turning visual references into 3D assets and proposing improvements with other development disciplines.
Build and operate game-development CI/CD and automate environment setup; workflow-tool or script development from study or personal projects qualifies.
Design battle and parameter-management systems, engine features and development tools, bringing C++ experience to a junior R&D role.
Implement console-game gameplay, from battle systems and player behavior to level content and UI, contributing to early prototypes.
Design graphics libraries and tools and research game visual techniques; C++ projects and basic graphics knowledge can come from study or personal work.
Plan and implement character-AI engines, tools and workflows for console games; C++ and character-AI projects from study or personal work qualify.
Design game frameworks, an in-house engine and asset tools; programming research or development from study or personal projects qualifies.