Jobs

Undead Labs, creators of the smash hit survival-fantasy game State of Decay, is home to an elite team of programmers, artists, designers, musicians, and producers. Above all else, we love games and we love to try new things. If you think you could help to create our unique brand of innovative games for gamers on all platforms, we want to hear from you.

What can you expect from us?

You can expect to work with people you admire, respect, and trust, and you can expect to have it returned in kind. We are not a “rock star” studio. You won’t find anyone’s name in front of our game titles, or any single person taking credit for the design of the game.
You can expect to work on games you’re truly excited about, while also living a full life. We have a sustained track record of building and nurturing development cultures that are respectful of personal lives and families.
You can expect to work in open, collaborative environments, and that everyone else in the company will do the same. Offices, cubicles, and development cultures just don’t mix.
You can expect to work for a company that pursues excellence and sets ambitious goals. We’re not in this to create mere games; we strive to create cultural phenomena.
You can expect to be asked to contribute to the design of our games and challenge the boundaries of your role, rather than working strictly to a specification that someone else gives you.
You can expect candor, honesty, and transparency from the company. We’re in this together, and we’ll treat you as a peer.
You can expect to be compensated fairly for your hard work. You should be passionate about what you do for a living, but you should never let anyone try to shame you into believing that you must sacrifice fair compensation for a job that you love.
You can expect to love your job. In fact, you should demand it.

If you’d like to know more about what to expect from us — and what we’ll expect from you — you can check out the official Lab Culture statement.

“We’re always on the lookout for talented people…”

Well, no. We’re not. You probably see that statement frequently, but we’re actually not always on the lookout for talented developers. We’re a tight-knit studio with strong production and development infrastructure, and we don’t simply throw bodies at problems. When we decide to add a person to the team, it’s only after careful thought about both our short-term needs and our long-term goals. We don’t hire carelessly. That means when you see an open position below we are actively working to fill it, and when we find that perfect person, it’s gone. If you think you want to join us, let us know now.

Our open positions are listed below. Unless otherwise stated, all positions are for full-time employment at the Undead Labs studio in downtown Seattle. If one of them describes you, send us an email expressing your interest in joining us. If you know someone who works at the Lab, please express your interest to that person directly. If we haven’t had the opportunity to meet you yet, please send us an email with links to your online portfolio and resume to jobs@undeadlabs.com.

Be assured that any contact with the Lab will be held in the strictest confidence.

Have you ever thought about what the world would be like if the dead refused to stay dead, instead relentlessly pursuing and attacking the living? Have you tirelessly debated which strategies you would use to survive a zombie apocalypse? Do you love telling visual stories with props and set dressing? Do you have experience working in an open world game engine?

If you answered yes to these questions, we are very interested in talking to you about joining our team here at Undead Labs as a World Builder, a job that mashes together the responsibilities of an Environment Artist and a Level Designer.

Our studio makes State of Decay, a franchise that puts players in beautiful, open, zombie-filled worlds and gives them the tools and resources they need to survive. Our World Builders work closely with the other disciplines to build game worlds that feel open and engaging, and that convey mood and tell compelling stories, while forever walking that fine line between beautiful and performant.

To fill this role, we generally look for Level Designers with strong artistic sensibilities or traditional Environment Artists with a good feel for layout and moment-to-moment gameplay.

For this position you’ll need to:

Work with leads to understand and consistently execute on Art Direction.
Collaborate with Design to convert design ideas into functional compositions and level layouts.
Sculpt and texture terrain, as well as add prebuilt props to build detailed and exciting worlds.

This position is for full-time employment at the Undead Labs studio in Seattle. (For more on our culture, be sure to check the jobs page.) If you think you have what it takes, send your resume and samples of your work to jobs@undeadlabs.com.

We’re looking forward to hearing from you.