Game Writer (Contract)

  • Contract

Company Description

Fire Hose Games is the Boston-based (but fully-remote) independent game development studio behind titles such as Go Home Dinosaurs, Catlateral Damage, and 20XX. We pay good salaries and offer flexible work hours. Fire Hose hasn’t crunched in years and we don’t intend to start. Our company culture is inclusive, supportive, and fun. We strongly encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and voices to apply, and consider relevant experience in all its forms. We hope to hear from you!

Job Description

Fire Hose Games is looking for an experienced Game Writer to join the team on our latest game. This is a console + PC release featuring new and unannounced IP, and the ideal candidate will be familiar with and excited about factory/automation games.

As our Game Writer you’ll be responsible for telling an intriguing science fiction story through the game’s world and characters. We have much of the high level narrative worked out already, and we’ll need you to fill in the details. You’ll work closely with artists, engineers, and designers to weave narrative into the player experience. The ability to craft compelling visual and environmental story beats will be as important as writing compelling text.

Our team is currently remote, so great communication and organizational skills are a must. Successful candidates may work from anywhere, but must be able to sync with a team based in the U.S. Eastern time zone. This is a contract position for 6+ months.

If you’re excited about helping us deliver our most ambitious project yet, then we’re eager to hear from you!

Responsibilities

  • Craft a storyline that draws the player from start to finish, but without ever standing in the way. The player should want to uncover more, but never feel forced to.
  • Serve as the lead writer for all in-game text: character dialog, tone-appropriate menu and quest descriptions, and anything relating to story and flavor.  
  • Use environmental and atmospheric storytelling to deliver narrative in a way that feels natural and unobtrusive, and piques the player’s curiosity.
  • Work closely with artists, engineers, and other designers to weave narrative into the game’s progression.
  • Maintain an agile approach to both narrative and overall design, iterating regularly in response to user feedback, and adjusting narrative as necessary to accommodate larger pivots.
  • Create and maintain all necessary documentation to support the game’s narrative content and delivery. This could include everything from wireframes to storyboards to user flows to VO scripts.

Qualifications

  • Professional experience in writing for commercial video games, with at least one title shipped in a narrative or writing role
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Deep understanding of narrative design and storytelling methods that support player freedom and agency
  • Comfortable working closely with other disciplines, and shepherding/refining good ideas regardless of where they originate
  • Proven ability to communicate narrative through visual and environmental storytelling, as well as text
  • Non-linear storytelling experience
  • Must be familiar with the factory/automation genre and player/audience motivations

‍Preferences

  • Previous science fiction game writing experience
  • Experience working on an open world, sandbox, or any user-directed game
  • High level narrative design experience
  • Experience with Jira/Confluence/Atlassian suite

Additional Information

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.