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BioWare Austin seeks Writers

Our Jobs at Bioware page has information on how to apply and several other helpful resources.

BioWare Austin is searching for Writers to help development on new, ground-breaking role-playing games. We are accepting applications for immediate vacancies.

BioWare, the newest member of the incredible family of EA studios, has created some of the world's best-selling titles including the award-winning Baldur's Gate™, Neverwinter Nights™ series, and Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™. Original BioWare-created IPs include Jade Empire™ and the critically acclaimed, Mass Effect. BioWare is hard at work on the epic fantasy RPG Dragon Age™; Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood™ for the Nintendo DS™; and unannounced projects including a highly anticipated massively multiplayer online game.

BioWare’s games have continually achieved critical and commercial success. All of our published titles are in the top 5% highest rated at www.gamerankings.com; in fact we have 6 games in the top 1% highest rated games of all time! Today BioWare has more than 400 staff at its two locations and continues to grow. We have sold over 20 million games (including engine licenses) in the past ten years! Our games have received many top industry awards, and we are proud that our Edmonton studio location has been recognized as a top employer in Canada, awarded the following for 2008:

  • Canada’s Top 100 Employers
  • Financial Post Canada’s Top 10 Best Companies to Work For
  • Alberta’s Top 35 Employers

Key Responsibilities

  • Creates story concepts
  • Working within the framework of the critical path, create compelling and intriguing plots, subplots and characters
  • Responsible for all dialogue, journal entries and rewrites
  • Responsible for solid understanding of IP and overall story/critical path of project
  • Maintains materials and completes writing assignments according to set standards regarding order, clarity, conciseness, style and terminology
  • Reviews documentation and recommends revisions or change in scope, format, or content

Experience and Qualifications

  • BS/BA degree or equivalent professional experience; and demonstrated writing skills via portfolio
  • 2-5 years professional writing experience
  • Proven examples of professional writing, editing and document formatting skills
  • Must have thorough understanding of the needs of the end-user as to write from that perspective
  • Must self-educate through documents and product use
  • Must differentiate between elementary and ancillary information
  • Must be able to recognize potential problems in plots, characters, and areas, while propose/brainstorm appropriate solutions with the lead writer/lead designer
  • Willingness and ability to meet aggressive deadlines and extraordinary attention to details
  • Strong research, analytical and problem solving skills
  • Strong oral communication and interpersonal skills (cross-functional team environments)
  • The ability to work within the framework of the overall story to create interesting plots and subplots for an area
  • Be aware and sensitive to what resources (art, programming) are available, and the ability to work within these limits when devising plots and characters
  • High level of flexibility with regard to change in direction or/and rewrites

Familiarity with the fantasy genre and role-playing games is a must. Should have some experience with the NWN editor. Examples of work must be provided (see below).

Required Submission

An example of writing via the Neverwinter Nights toolset should be provided.

Here are the guidelines for the module:

  • Make the module short. It should be a short, interesting story that can be played within 15 to 30 minutes.
  • Start the story off with a bang! If it doesn't catch our interest with the first character, your submission will likely be discarded.
  • There should be at least 3000 words of dialogue within the module.
  • We will be judging your ability to write dialogue that is interesting and has personality. The characters you are writing have to be engaging in a manner that immediately draws in the reader.
  • The dialogue must be fun and easy to read, not overly verbose.
  • We will also be judging the structure of your dialogue. Does the dialogue flow logically? Does the player feel in control of the conversation?
  • Avoid creating an entire adventure module with combat, puzzles, and so on. Focus your efforts on dialogue.
  • Remember, this module is not being judged on scripting. A simple set of characters with dialogue that can be played in-game is something anyone with basic computer skills can figure out how to set up in under an hour.

Examples of the style of game dialogue that we are looking for: Baldur's Gate 2, Planescape Torment, Neverwinter Nights.

Common writing submission mistakes:

  • Overly verbose dialogue. Dialogue should be succinct and easy to read.
  • Dialogue where the player has very little interaction. The player should feel that he is talking to an NPC, not being talked at.
  • Modern sounding dialogue. Do not use modern anachronisms or slang. Fantasy characters shouldn't sound like they come from the 21st century.
  • Boring first character. The first character the player talks to sets the tone for the entire module.

How to Apply

Note: Resume submissions not including an example dialogue will not be considered.

Please quote the following competition number in the subject line of your electronic application, or include in the cover letter of your mailed application:

07-WRITER-BWA-23

To apply by email, send your resume and online portfolio to:

WriterJobsAustin -AT- bioware.com

Or by mail:
Writer # 07-WRITER-BWA-23
BioWare Corp.
Human Resources
200, 4445 Calgary Trail
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T6H 5R7

Along with your submission, you MUST include a signed product submission agreement.
You can fax it to: 780-439-6374

Resources to help you apply:

Due to the volume of applications we receive for our job postings, we are unable to respond personally to telephone inquiries regarding the status of an application. Only candidates being considered for interview will be contacted at this time.

Posted by AlexMarquez on February 8, 2008 01:01 AM