Animator Jobs in San Francisco
Find animator jobs in San Francisco from the world’s top game studios. Riot Games, EA, Zynga, Ubisoft SF, and more Bay Area studios hire animators across all levels. Updated daily.
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Animator Roles in San Francisco
We curate animator positions from game studios across San Francisco and the greater Bay Area.
Junior Animator
Animator
Senior Animator
Lead Animator
Character Animator
Cinematic Animator
Gameplay Animator
Technical Animator
San Francisco Game Studios Hiring Animators
Bay Area studios develop live-service and AAA titles with ongoing animation needs across gameplay, characters, and cinematics:
Bay Area Animator Roles Are Competitive
Animator openings in San Francisco attract applicants from across the US and internationally. Riot Games and EA run animation teams producing content for games played by tens of millions. ArtBlast sends Bay Area roles the moment they post so you can apply in the first 24-48 hours when your odds are best.
Animator Salary Ranges in San Francisco (2026)
What animator roles pay at San Francisco and Bay Area game studios.
*Salaries listed in USD. California has state income tax (up to 13.3%), one of the highest in the US. San Francisco and the Bay Area have a very high cost of living. Studios in the Bay Area offer some of the highest base salaries in the game industry to compensate.
What San Francisco Studios Look For in Animators
Bay Area animation teams bring characters and worlds to life across some of the most-played games in the world. Here is what gets you hired.
🎨 Core Animation Skills
- Animation principles: weight, timing, anticipation, follow-through
- Gameplay state machine and locomotion system animation
- Character, creature, and NPC animation across genres
- Cinematic in-engine cutscene workflows
- Iterating quickly on feedback from animation directors
🎮 Tools and Software
- Maya for keyframe animation and rig work
- Unreal Engine 5 animation graph and state machine
- MotionBuilder for mocap data processing and cleanup
- Perforce for version control in large team productions
- Blender for secondary animation tasks and review
🌟 What SF Studios Specifically Want
- Riot Games needs stylized game animation experience across diverse IP
- EA requires AAA gameplay and cinematic credits on shipped titles
- Live service game animation experience is a significant plus
- Collaborative approach working with narrative design and engineering
- Ability to maintain animation quality across large content volumes
💡 How to Stand Out in the Bay Area Market
- Reel with clearly labeled breakdowns per clip
- Include gameplay-context footage showing state machine integration
- Demonstrate range across stylized and realistic animation styles
- Highlight mocap direction or cleanup experience if applicable
- Apply within 24 hours of posting
Animator Jobs in San Francisco FAQ
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