London / Hybrid / Remote

Freelance / project-based

Company description

Ember Crows is an independent game studio based in London.

We founded the studio to create original, story-driven games with distinctive worlds, strong artistic direction and stories worth playing.

We’re a small and ambitious team. We care about quality, but we don’t want unnecessary corporate stiffness around the creative process. We want people who can be serious about the work, open about ideas and good to work with.

Website: https://embercrows.com

Game description

We’re working on ‘Names Go Dark’, a dark, narrative-driven third-person action RPG for PC and consoles.

The game is set on Proxima b, a tidally locked world divided between eternal light and endless darkness, combining science-fiction technology with Slavic mythology and an atmospheric original universe.

We’re looking for an experienced Lead Writer to work directly with the Game Director and take a leading role in shaping the narrative of ‘Names Go Dark’.

You’ll be working with an existing story, characters, lore and worldbuilding, developing them into a coherent game narrative and helping us establish the writing standards and narrative foundations of the project.

This is a hands-on role. We want someone who can lead creatively, challenge ideas when necessary and still sit down and write excellent material themselves.

Responsibilities

• Working closely with the Game Director to develop and refine the main story of ‘Names Go Dark’.

• Developing existing story concepts, characters and worldbuilding.

• Structuring the main story and supporting narrative arcs.

• Reviewing and improving story pitches, outlines and dialogue.

• Crafting stories.

• Writing dialogue.

• Writing cutscene and cinematic scripts.

• Writing in-game documents and environmental narrative content.

• Developing characters, relationships, motivations and character arcs.

• Designing interactive and non-linear narrative where appropriate.

• Adapting narrative to gameplay and production requirements without sacrificing writing quality.

• Working closely with Game Design to integrate narrative with gameplay and progression.

• Collaborating with cinematics, gameplay, animation, art and audio.

• Creating and maintaining internal narrative documentation.

• Ensuring lore consistency and helping expand our original IP.

• Establishing writing standards and narrative workflows.

• Reviewing and giving feedback on writing produced by other contributors.

• Helping mentor and lead additional writers as the narrative team grows.

• Collaborating with VO artists and directors.

• Supporting localisation, PR and marketing where narrative input is required.

Requirements

• Excellent writing skills with professional work to demonstrate them.

• Native or near-native fluency in written English.

• At least 6 years of experience as a Writer, Narrative Designer or similar role in the video game industry.

• Experience leading, mentoring or reviewing the work of other writers.

• Excellent communication skills.

• Experience creating interactive, non-linear stories and dialogue.

• Strong understanding of narrative-driven RPGs.

• Experience developing characters, dialogue and long-form story structures.

• Ability to adapt narrative to gameplay and technical requirements without sacrificing quality.

• Understanding of how story can be communicated through gameplay, environment and player experience rather than dialogue alone.

• Experience maintaining lore consistency across a fictional universe.

• Familiarity with game engines such as Unreal Engine or similar tools.

• Good organisational and documentation skills.

• Passion for games, an open mind and a strong work ethic.

• Portfolio or professional writing samples.

If you don’t quite meet every requirement but think you could be the right person for ‘Names Go Dark’, take a chance anyway. We’ll be open-minded too.

Nice to have

• Experience with third-person action RPGs or action-adventure games.

• Experience with dark science-fiction, cyberpunk or grounded speculative fiction.

• Strong familiarity with the history, culture, mythology and folklore of Central and Eastern Europe.

• Familiarity with Slavic mythology and folklore.

• Experience developing original IP and extensive fictional worlds.

• Experience with branching dialogue and player-choice-driven storytelling.

• Experience working with cinematic pipelines.

• Experience working with VO artists and directors.

• Experience with localisation.

• Experience writing in other media such as film, television, novels or comics.

• Fluency in Polish or another Central or Eastern European language.

• At least one commercially released narrative-driven PC or console title.

Where from?

You can work remotely, hybrid or from London.

We have access to our Battersea workspace for team members who want to work together in person.

For remote collaboration, we ask for reasonable overlap with UK working hours and regular contact with the Game Director and wider team.

Given the cultural foundations of ‘Names Go Dark’, we’re particularly interested in hearing from writers from Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, although applications are welcome internationally.

What we offer

• A leading creative role on a new original IP.

• Direct collaboration with the Game Director.

• Significant influence over the story, characters, lore and narrative direction of ‘Names Go Dark’.

• The opportunity to help establish the narrative foundations and writing standards of the project.

• Close collaboration with Game Design, gameplay, cinematics, art and audio.

• The opportunity to help build the Narrative Team as the studio grows.

• Flexible remote, hybrid or London-based collaboration.

• A professional but relaxed working culture built around trust, communication and mutual respect.

• Participation in Ember Crows’ project-based profit-sharing programme.

• The opportunity to grow with the project and studio.

This is currently a freelance, project-based engagement using a milestone-based points profit-sharing model. It does not guarantee an upfront salary or freelance fee unless separately agreed for the specific engagement.

We’ll explain the full compensation structure and contractual terms clearly before you join.

What happens after I apply?

• If, based on your CV and writing samples, we feel you might be a good fit, we’ll ask you to complete a writing test.

• You’ll have 7 days to complete it.

• The test will be a self-contained recruitment exercise rather than material intended for production in ‘Names Go Dark’.

• If we like your test, we’ll arrange a remote interview with the Game Director.

• Following the interview, we may ask for references from people you’ve worked with previously.

• If all goes well, we’ll have a second conversation about the role, project and collaboration before making an offer.

• If we decide it isn’t the right fit, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.

Please note that we will only contact shortlisted candidates.