2UP Games Limited
At 2UP Games, we bring new game experiences to a massive audience.
We’re an “AI-empowered games studio”. We make mobile games, using the most game-changing tech since the original iPhone. We’re excited about unleashing Generative AI to:
- Deliver fresh takes and whole new categories of games that were not possible a year ago.
- Amplify the creativity of our team. As an AI-empowered 10-person team, we are equipped to compete with teams 10x the size.
Our current project is a social drawing and guessing game, where players’ drawings magically come to life, thanks to the power of AI image generation. We’re on a journey to become the studio best placed to make “the next big game” on mobile, using cutting-edge tech, the best craft, and the best team. Are you up for it?
We’re a team of eight game-making veterans. We have employees from Magic Leap, Space Ape, Millipede, PikPok and more! We’re always looking for talented and experienced people to join the mission. We have a heritage of making cooperative games for mobile, such as Highfive Heroes.
We’re a remote-first studio, backed by Supercell. We offer the adventure of a startup, with the backing of the biggest name in mobile games.
Job Description – Lead Developer
Help guide a small team with big dreams and high velocity. Work with motivated peers on creativity-empowering technology. Split your time between helping other developers, and writing code.
Responsibilities
- Lead our programming team. Take responsibility for team output and wellbeing. Give direction to help the development team be productive and happy.
- Make big-picture decisions about architecture, backend infrastructure, data structures and code organisation. Understand requirements, think through implications and make the calls.
- Collaborate closely with our technical co-founder and experienced team. Communicate and document clearly.
- Write code! Get your hands dirty with implementation challenges from gameplay refinement to SDK integration.
- Unlock productivity with powerful tools and simple pipelines. Learn to unleash AI technology as a creative multiplier for the team.
- Empower peers. Give support and advice born of experience. Understand each team member’s strengths and empower them to shine.
- Get creative: suggest, refine, and elaborate on the creative ideas that make our games special. We all have a voice in the games we make.
Requirements
- 8+ years of professional programming experience
- 3+ years of working on mobile games
- Experience leading a team — small or large
- You have the right to work in New Zealand or Australia
Bonus Points
- 3+ years working with Unity
- Experience with generative AI and machine learning (even as an enthusiastic hobbyist!)
- 3+ years working in teams sized 3-10
- Experience working in a structured Agile environment, such as Agile Scrum or Kanban
- Experience in a live service environment with a persistent backend. Even better: you have coded full-stack yourself, from client right through to server and persistence layer.
- Literacy in mobile gameplay and progression systems
Founding Employees
You’ll be a founding employee. What does this mean?
- You’re excited about the brave new world of generative AI. You may not know much about it (yet!), but you’re excited by the creative possibilities.
- You’ll model and improve our employee values. Have a look at them (below) and see if they sit right with you.
- You’ll be invested in improving your studio. And you’ll want to share the upside when things go right for the company – ask us for more info on equity options.
- You’ll help us improve our remote-working model. We want this to be the place where we do the best work of our careers. How can you help?
- You’ll see boring health and safety statements and raise a wry smile. But seriously, please do take care of your home office environment. You’ll get a budget to ensure you have great gear. Use it, align it, and your body will thank you for it in your retirement. Any questions, just ask.
Work Hours
This is a startup, does that mean I’ll work crazy hours?
We want the team to be happy and productive for the long haul. We balance a sensible baseline with the occasional need to push hard.
- Baseline of 40 hours per week.
- Some flexibility when you work the hours within a week.
- Occasional surges around milestone releases.
- Once a game is released - rostered time “on call” to respond if there are problems.
Employee Values
These values describe how we aim to work at 2UP Games.
- We’re Considerate. We’re trying to do something hard, together. Take the time to help your co-workers achieve their dreams. Collaborate compassionately, critique respectfully, and listen deeply.
- We’re Motivated. We are pioneers, motivated from within. We work to support everyone’s productivity. And we never lose sight of the goal: shipping our games to millions of delighted players.
- We’re Individuals. Find the awesome—your way. Bring yourself to work: your strengths, your quirks, and your ways of getting things done. Be your best self, no one else.
Apply
Drop us a line on team@2up.games. Please include your CV, why you’re interested in the job, and a link to your portfolio.
