About this opportunity
Makeshift Software lists this Associate Animator opportunity in columbus, Ohio. Review the employer’s description below for duties, qualifications and application requirements.
Job description
Makeshift Software Inc | Remote (3–6 months) → Hybrid On-Site Full-Time
About Hexborn
Hexborn is our upcoming dark fantasy action RPG — a brutal blend of hack-and-slash combat, deep dungeon crawling, guild progression, and player-driven rivalry set in a world consumed by an ever-expanding corruption known as the Graveglass Blight.
Players rise from an unknown mage into the leader of a legendary guild, mastering arcane combat, recruiting allies, forging relics, and descending into cursed ruins and large-scale raids to uncover the truth behind their rare ability to fly.
The demo is live now on Steam.
We're building toward a cinematic bar that matches the quality references below — both in gameplay animation and in prerendered cutscenes — and we're looking for an animator early in their career who's ready to learn our pipeline and grow into a full production role on the team.
The Role
We're looking for an Associate Animator to support gameplay animation and prerendered cinematics for Hexborn, working closely with our senior animators to learn our pipeline and take on increasing ownership over time. You'll help clean up motion capture data, animate on established rigs, and build the foundational skills to eventually own shots independently.
This is a hands-on production role with real mentorship built in. You won't be expected to work in isolation — you'll pair closely with senior animators, get regular feedback, and grow into more autonomous work as you get comfortable with our tools and quality bar.
What You'll Do
Assist with animating gameplay moments and prerendered cutscenes/film sequences in Blender , under the guidance of senior animators
Support motion capture cleanup , learning our process for taking raw capture through to production-ready animation
Animate on both biped and creature rigs using our existing, established rig library
Follow and help maintain our team's rigging and animation standards
Collaborate closely with senior animators to build toward greater independence and shot ownership over time
Work within our existing animation tooling: Animation Sets in use and our broader workflow tools
What You'll Need
Some professional or strong portfolio-level experience with Blender animation
Familiarity with motion capture cleanup and workflows (professional or coursework/personal project experience welcome)
Basic experience animating on biped and/or creature rigs
A strong demo reel or portfolio showing animation fundamentals — weight, timing, and readability
Eagerness to learn from senior animators and grow within a structured production pipeline
Quality Bar References
To give a sense of the cinematic and animation quality we're aiming for:
Reference 1
Reference 2
Perks & Tools
MOVE AI markerless mocap + Z CAM E2-M4 camera capture system
Faceware Mark IV mocap helmets for facial performance capture
Industry-grade workstation, built to spec: see our standard build
Remote for the first 3–6 months, transitioning to hybrid on-site thereafter
Work Arrangement
We'll start fully remote for a 3–6 month grace period while you ramp up and get embedded with the team, then transition to a hybrid on-site schedule.
Columbus is also a genuinely affordable place to build a life relative to the coastal cities most gamedev careers run through.
Cost of living runs roughly 50% below Seattle and Santa Cruz — driven mostly by housing, where Columbus's median home price (around $263K ) compares to $808K in Seattle and $1.24M in Santa Cruz — and it stays competitive even against Montreal, historically one of the more cost-conscious major gamedev hubs in North America.
Makeshift Software Inc is the developer and publisher of Hexborn .
Worksite address
columbus, OH, 43224, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.