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Virtual reality Totoro? Project Morpheus team looking for artist with “Studio Ghibli” style

Casey Baseel Aug 31, 2015
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After more than a year since the last film from anime production house Studio Ghibli, the paint is rapidly drying on the writing on the wall. At the very least, it looks like animation fans are in for a long wait before the next Ghibli movie, and it may turn out that When Marnie Was There ends up being the last theatrical feature we ever see from the company co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki.

Still, that doesn’t mean that other artists, perhaps working in other mediums, won’t carry on the beloved anime studio’s spirit. As a matter of fact, if you’ve got the necessary video game production skills, that someone could be you, as a U.K.-based Project Morpheus team is looking for an artist to help add a Ghibli-like aesthetic to its game.

Sony has promised that its Project Morpheus head-mounted virtual reality unit, to be used with the PlayStation 4, will be available in the first half of 2016. As we get deeper into the second half of 2015, that means developers should be hard at work on games for the long-awaited peripheral, but a recent job listing is attracting as much attention from anime fans as gamers and technophiles.

The same listing has been found on video game recruiting site Amiqus and also Develop, seeking an environment artist for a Project Morpheus title. As the employer is looking for someone who can “hit the ground running,” Amiqus mentions a number of specific areas it’s looking for expertise in, including a knack for digitally recreating water, rock, and plant life. But even applicants who can render all those elements of the natural world in a way that would look right at home in a Disney movie aren’t guaranteed to get the job, since the skills being sought include the ability to create art in a stylized manner “similar to Studio Ghibli.”

Neither Amiqus nor Develop Online explicitly mentions the name of the company that’s looking to hire the environment artist, but given that Amiqus lists the position as located in Liverpool, the popular theory is that the successful candidate will be working for Sony Computer Entertainment’s North West Studio, which was established in the U.K. last spring to work exclusively on software for Project Morpheus. If you think you’ve got a strong enough resume and portfolio, applications can be sent through Amiqus or Develop (here and here).

Who knows? You might just end up making something that not only satisfies people’s hunger for more Ghibli-esque media, but also a Project Morpheus game that doesn’t terrify them.

Sources: Amiqus, Develop via VR Focus, Jin
Top image: Studio Ghibli