---
title: 'Technical Game Designer at Spellbrush'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/technical-game-designer-spellbrush-san-francisco-w4bmv5s5858g'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-24'
---

# Technical Game Designer at Spellbrush

- **Company:** Spellbrush
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** remote
- **Posted:** 2024-04-18
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-24
- **Apply:** https://jobs.gem.com/spellbrush/am9icG9zdDozVsPyJ_vEI2AuHwdavOO2

## Job description

## JD HERE

## About Spellbrush

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Spellbrush is a generative AI studio and video game development company best known for creating niji・journey, a leading AI art tool focused on anime-style imagery.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2018
- **Founders**: Cory Li (CEO), Ruwen Liu (Co-Founder, Creative Director), Haitao Mao (Co-Founder, Game Developer)

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Generative AI, Video Games, Computer Games
- Target customers: B2C (gamers, anime and art enthusiasts), B2B (artists, game developers)
- Mission or purpose statement: "Making a good anime game" while investigating how AI can help human artists perform masterpieces in the complex medium of video games.

## Products & Services
- **[niji・journey (にじジャーニー)]**: A generative AI art tool specialized in anime and illustration styles, built on Midjourney’s technology. It is the company’s flagship product and a leading tool in its niche.
- **[Niji Video]**: A recently released (July 2025) video generation AI tool that specializes in anime-style motion, expanding beyond static images.
- **[Unannounced Tactical Game]**: A no-compromise approach to well-balanced turn-based tactics gameplay married to a love of visual arts, currently in development.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding of **$245,000** across two seed rounds (2018). Annual revenue estimated at **$800,000** (likely an underestimate given niji’s popularity).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (Winter 2018 batch), with 2 investors in the first seed round and 1 in the second.
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew **+24% YoY** to approximately **30 employees**; LinkedIn followers grew **+28.8% YoY** to 3,377; active job postings increased **+10% monthly**; recent product launches (Niji Video) and news coverage (Kotaku feature on a tactical game).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Niche Dominance**: niji・journey is the premier AI art tool for anime-style imagery, giving the company a strong moat in a specific creative vertical.
- **Talent Density**: Team includes alumni from Midjourney, Meta, NVIDIA, SenseTime, and top game studios like Halfbrick.
- **Proximity to Midjourney**: Deep partnership and shared technology stack with Midjourney, one of the leading AI image generation platforms.
- **Cross-Domain Expertise**: Uniquely combines world-class generative AI research with high-quality game development.

## Strategic Focus
- **Product Expansion**: Moving from static image generation (niji・journey) to video generation (Niji Video), and ultimately to a full video game.
- **AI for Games**: Investigating how AI can be used to help human artists create masterpieces in the complex medium of video games.
- **Talent Growth**: Actively hiring across AI research, infrastructure, and game development roles, particularly in San Francisco and Tokyo.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: A "no-compromise approach to well-balanced gameplay married to a truthful love of visual arts." The team is passionate about anime and making a good anime game.
- **Location & Remote**: Offices in San Francisco, CA and Chiyoda City, Tokyo, Japan. Some roles are remote-friendly (remote from Tokyo/SF), while other roles are in-office.
- **Compensation**: Competitive salaries ranging from $60K–$200K depending on role and seniority.
- **Engineering Culture**: The team is 26% Research and 23% Technical, indicating a strong emphasis on AI research and engineering. The work involves cutting-edge generative AI and game development.
- **Team Size**: Small (~30 people), offering high impact and ownership for early employees.

## Sources
1. [spellbrush.com/careers](https://spellbrush.com/careers)
2. [ycombinator.com/companies/spellbrush](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/spellbrush)
3. [linkedin.com/company/spellbrush](https://linkedin.com/company/spellbrush)
4. [builtin.com/company/spellbrush](https://www.builtin.com/company/spellbrush)
5. [ycombinator.com/companies/spellbrush/jobs](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/spellbrush/jobs)

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