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Rare is an Xbox Game Studio creating the kind of games the world doesn’t have. Our values – explorers, evolving, together – are fundamental to the games we make and how we make them. Rare offers rewarding and fulfilling careers for exceptional people, supporting you to learn and grow. Our studio is a welcoming campus in the heart of the Midlands, where the majority of our team work in a flexible hybrid work pattern.
Could you be our next Engine Intern? We’re looking for applicants with a growth mindset and who aren’t afraid to get involved in areas they know little about first-hand. As an intern in our engine department, you can expect to have a diverse experience working between many different areas of game development.
It all begins with your onboarding into a real job role, where you'll belong to an established team working alongside industry experts. Throughout the placement your learning and development won't stop, and you will receive on-the-job coaching, mentoring, and personal development from colleagues. As a valued part of the team, we'll expect you to give your insights and opinions and make a real contribution to our business!
Responsibilities
Engine programmers are responsible for the development of our engine and tools, as well as making direct contributions to our games. The Engine team tends to cover areas of deeper expertise than the game teams (like audio, or networking), but there’s still quite a bit of overlap in the types of work each team does and their skillsets. Members of Engine work in close collaboration with Gameplay to understand project needs, to develop reusable software to address them, and to integrate what they develop into the game, as necessary. Working in the Engine team, it's likely that you'll contribute to more than one project.
Fun facts
Past interns in the Engine Team at Rare have done things such as:
- Improved the performance of our networking code.
- Created game systems on secondment to game team.
- Added features to our physics system and rolled them out to our players.
- Optimized our server executable.
- Optimized our GPU particle simulation.
- Added and maintained compute shaders.
What you might get up to
- Working with bespoke large systems or Middleware integration (e.g., audio framework, UI framework).
- Hardcore performance optimisations and hardware-specific optimisations.
- Implementation of platform specific features.
- Researching and implementing cutting-edge real time rendering techniques.
- Research and develop software systems to support the development of our products in conjunction with other Engineers.
- Identify and surface risks in the areas that are being worked on.
- Continuously work to minimise technical debt and maintenance hazards.
Qualifications
To qualify for an internship position we require:
- A good understanding or passion for computer programming and software creation.
- Some hands-on experience or projects where you've applied your programming skills.
- Familiarity with one or more of these languages: C, C++, or C#.
Please note, you don't need to have experience in video game development or be studying it specifically. Also, you don't need any formal diplomas or degrees to apply. We value your skills and enthusiasm.
There is also a long list of other things that will count in your favor. This is not a box ticking exercise but if you have skills or experience in any of these areas make sure you let us know!
- A managed, object-oriented language (e.g., C#, Java).
- A scripting language (e.g., Python, Perl, Powershell).
- Automated Testing (e.g., Google Test Framework).
- Working within a team.
- Experience with commercial game engines like Unreal Engine, Unity or Godot.
- Web service development/Cloud deployment.
- Contribution to an open-source community.
- Rendering or computer graphics experience (e.g., DirectX/OpenGL/Vulkan).
- A background in mathematics, physics, or a subject with similar mathematical underpinnings.
How to apply
Please include a copy of your CV with a cover letter and portfolio. We realise that your portfolio may be a work in progress and that’s fine, it’s your potential that will catch our eye. Here are some things you can do to help your portfolio stand out:
- Include things you are genuinely proud of – this is your chance to show off so please make the content easily accessible.
- Demonstrates why you want to work for our team at Rare. We’re a creative lot so it doesn’t have to be a letter, it could be a video, comic, or even a game!
Please be aware that this role will be based at Rare Studio, Twycross, Leicestershire and the successful applicant will be required to work on-site to get the best out of the 12-month internship.
