Small_ Independent_Big Projects
Evil Empire is a studio formed in early 2019 by a few ex-Motion Twin people with the intention of creating more Dead Cells and using that as a stepping stone towards making our own games. We work in the same open space as Motion Twin and regularly beat them in Nerf wars and Smash.
The name of our studio is a dig at some of the shadier aspects of the game industry and, if you have a sense of humour, a signal that we're all about being the exact opposite (also, some people didn't like the "Cat Nap Studio" suggestion...in spite of it clearly being the better choice).
As we start work on new amazing projects, alongside continued support for Dead Cells, we need to ensure that we're working with the latest technology and bringing in a talented and experienced team capable of leading ambitious projects.
While we're currently growing rapidly, we pay a lot of attention to ensuring that we maintain small autonomous teams (10-15 people max). This not only means we work on a more "human" scale, but also that everyone can really impact the game with their ideas and initiatives.

What We Do Differently
If you're working at Evil Empire you will NEVER crunch (it's nuts that this has to be said), you will have excellent health cover, five weeks paid leave (plus public holidays), subsidized meals, flexibility with work time, free fruit and other noms and of course as much coffee as you can drink.
We also do regular trips to some of the most legendary gaming events in the world, including excursions to National Parks and other such shenanigans (team building right ? ), so there's plenty of opportunities for motivated people to get out and see the world. Well, at least, we were doing this before Covid happened, and plan to do it again if events are ever a thing in the future...
While we're an indie company, our financial stability allows us to offer the kind of work environment that we always wished we could have, so we're always scheming new ways to make our work lives enjoyable.

Comfortable Work Environment
We're always open to suggestions regarding new tech and hardware, learning resources like books, patreon subscriptions, or training and of course everyone gets to pick what goes in the junk food cupboard. So you should always have access to everything you need to be happy in the office. In addition, Bordeaux is an awesome city as it's big enough to have plenty to do, but small enough that you can walk across it in half an hour. Beautiful 19th century architecture and more restaurants than you can poke a stick at make it a great place to live. You're also 45 minutes drive from the beach and 3 hours from the ski slopes. While access to a very well connected airport and a 2 hour high speed train ride to Paris mean you're never far away from anything.

Evil Empire, the team working on Motion Twin's smash hit Dead Cells but also on incredimazing new projects, is looking for the Swiss Army Knife(c) of Level Designers. Being a small team with indie DNA, wearing multiple hats, being involved in ALL aspects of the design and implementation is part of the job.

We need someone who is able to come up with great designs, formalize them and explain why their design should be in the game. You then need to be able to interface with a small team of people to build what you've imagined.

If this sounds like you, we're looking specifically for someone who will be responsible for :

• Creating 2D levels and contributing to overall game and world design for Dead Cells and/or some new exciting projects we can't talk about right now.
  
• Documenting and explaining your vision for the levels, overall objective and concepts and making sure your team and you are on the same page.
  
• Designing and implementing in-level / world gameplay elements, quests, NPCs, secrets, and generally tons of fun stuff for players to discover as they progress through your world.
  
• Assuming ownership of the spaces and features you design facilitating communication across disciplines, clearing dependencies, and ensuring deadlines are met
  
• Ensuring that all of that works and can actually be done with the technical constraints we have. Basically make sure you don't make the programmers cry...
  
• Ensuring that the game world is coherent with the Art Direction, and collaborate with the art team to bring out the best in Level Design and Level Art.
  
• Analysing and fixing bugs that will inevitably sneak into the game
  

You'll need to know :

• A fair bit about Dead Cells or be ready to learn real quick.
  
• What makes a great action platformer level in general. You've played a lot of games of this genre...more than you can count.
  
• How to script in game. Experience with Kismet, Lua or something similar would be great.
  

• At least 3 years of level / game design experience (if you're a junior you MUST have a bunch of jams under your belt to convince us to hire you).
  
• Preferably have shipped at least one game.
  
• Extremely passionate about video games (this should really be first on the list).
  
• Capable of working with a bunch of different people from different backgrounds.
  

Bonus points :

• English (at least intermediate level).
  
• Previous work experience in either indie or AAA studios.
  
• Your jokes are less funny than those of the CEO
  

Resume, cover letter and portfolio are all mandatory (it doesn't have to be in English though). Artstation / Gamejams or other personal projects help us to know more about your skills.

To: Sophie DOSIERE