[Hiring] Cutscene Designer @Riyo Games

Role Description

As the Cutscene Designer, you bring a strong understanding of narrative and cinematography to help implement and elevate engaging story content. You’ll collaborate with the Narrative, Design, and Art teams in bringing gameplay and narrative cutscenes to life through thoughtful staging, camera work, and visual storytelling.

Using your artistic sensibility and technical expertise, you’ll help establish tone, mood, atmosphere, and depth, enhancing the player experience through striking composition and cinematic flair. You’ll work within game engines to integrate cutscenes and dialogue with gameplay moments, ensuring consistent, high-quality storytelling that resonates with players while identifying opportunities to improve pacing, clarity, narrative, and gameplay flow through cinematography.

Note: This is a 6-month full-time contract position, with the possibility of extension or transition into a regular full-time role.

Responsibilities

• Under the direction of the Narrative Director, stage and implement high-quality cutscenes using Unreal Engine 5, working from existing narrative scripts.
• Set up and refine cameras and related parameters (focus, framing, movement, timing, etc.) to achieve strong visual storytelling.
• Stage pixel art characters and scenes to support clear, engaging, and emotionally resonant sequences.
• Apply storytelling principles, camera language, and editing techniques to enhance gameplay and narrative moments.
• Collaborate closely with Designers and Artists to support and execute the game’s cinematic vision.
• Collaborate with the Programming team to improve the efficiency and quality of in-house cutscene tools.
• Create and maintain technical documentation related to narrative tools, workflows, and pipelines; ensure best practices are maintained throughout the game’s development.
• Debug technical issues related to the implementation of narrative systems and content.
• Balance quality and efficiency while working within production deadlines.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• At least 2 years of professional experience in games as a Cinematic Designer or Cinematic Artist with a strong focus on cutscene staging.
• A love and understanding of JRPGs.
• Proven experience creating in-game cutscenes, with a strong understanding of storytelling, photography, film language, and cinematography techniques.
• A skilled eye for composition, staging, lighting, timing, and editing.
• Hands-on experience with in-engine cinematic tools (Unreal Engine's sequencer preferred).
• Ability to take direction and iterate based on feedback while contributing creative ideas.
• Strong communication, listening, and interpersonal skills.
• Passion and knowledge of storytelling across movies, games, anime, and/or TV pop culture.
• Self-motivated and able to work independently as part of a fully distributed team to meet deadlines and milestone requirements.
• High attention to detail and well-organized.
• Strong documentation and visualization skills.
• Dedicated to contributing towards a friendly and collaborative team environment.

Requirements

• Resident of Ontario or Quebec, Canada.

Salary

$45,000 - $75,000 CAD

Benefits

• Competitive salary.
• 4 weeks paid vacation (1 week of which is taken in late December).
• Benefits package including Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance, and an Employee & Family Assistance program.
• Collaborative environment with opportunities to contribute to the game’s creative design and take ownership of features.
• Opportunities to help you strengthen your skills or learn something new.
• A workplace that appreciates and values diversity and inclusivity.