Apprentice Programmer

The goal at XR Games is to be the best developer of VR titles in the world.

Due to the success and critical acclaim of our previous projects 'Zombieland: Headshot Fever' and the PSVR-exclusive 'The Angry Birds Movie 2 VR: Under Pressure', our team is now working on numerous major projects with recognisable IP’s throughout 2022 and beyond.

After winning ‘Best Small Studio’ at the 2021 TIGA awards, our team is growing in all areas of game development as we transition from a small start-up studio to an established multi-disciplined games studio specialising in full-scale immersive extended reality games.

Led by a team with big game experience at studios such as Rockstar, EA, Codemasters, Playground, Dubit and Sumo, we have created games for some of the world’s biggest brands such as Sony, Rovio, Dreamworks and Lego.

The Role

We have an opportunity to join the team following the newly approved Level 7 Game Programmer Apprenticeship.

In this role you will be working on commercial game projects alongside the XR Games team.

This will involve:

• Testing in-game features.
• Fixing bugs.
• Coding game features.
• Supporting the other programmers in the team.

This will be combined with the significant training and support you will receive as part of your apprenticeship training which will cover numerous aspects of games programming in C++.

Although an apprenticeship doesn’t guarantee continued employment beyond the end of the programme, our goal is to provide you with the best possible opportunity to make a competitive application for a Junior Programmer role here at XR Games once your apprenticeship is complete.

The apprenticeship is expected to last 18-24 months and will be paid £20,000pa.

Who is eligible?

• Applicants must be aged 18+ and must already be living in the UK with valid residency status prior to application.
• You must not be currently enrolled on another apprenticeship or in full-time education.
• You will not have prior learning in games programming
• This means that graduates of games programming degrees will be ineligible for this apprenticeship however graduates from other fields of study without experience in game development are suitable.
• This also means you do not have to have a degree at all! As long as you can demonstrate the strong aptitude for programming needed.

Please also take note that remote working is not available for this role, you will need to be able to work from our studio in Leeds full time.

Who are the Training Providers?

To deliver this apprenticeship XR Games has linked with The Game Assembly and Kaplan.

The Game Assembly has been ranked amongst the best schools for games design & development in the world by The Rookies for 3 years in a row. Training delivery is supported by Kaplan, a leading UK apprenticeship specialist.

How do I apply??

If you meet all the requirements, then you are ready to start applying.

You will need to submit a CV and any additional documentation or examples that can show us your aptitude for coding.

Applications will be accepted from September 5th until September 25th.

If your initial application is successful, you will undergo an aptitude test which will test your C++ knowledge which would then be followed by an interview. We expect the commencement of the apprenticeship to begin in November.

Have you made it this far?

If you’re still reading, we think there’s a strong chance you might be our kind of person.?

Here’s the thing, though — research suggests that 60% of women and underrepresented folks might have already talked themselves out of applying. Even if you don’t check every box above, we want to encourage you to introduce yourself. We believe a diversity of perspectives and experiences makes a team stronger — and the stronger our team, the better games we can make!