STATE_01Sean Diehl · Career
20 years4 studiosAAA shipped
I've spent 20 years on staff at EA Tiburon, DICE, Ubisoft and GOALS, as an animator, lead, animation director, technical director and animation systems designer. Below are my credits from those roles. I now work with studios independently through Diehl Motion.
Sean DiehlFounder, Diehl Motion · Stockholm
Jan 2025 – PresentCurrent
GOALS · Stockholm, Sweden
GOALSPrincipal Animation Technical Designer
- Oversee the full animation pipeline across a hybrid AAA team, covering creative direction and technical execution.
- Build and maintain animation systems in Blueprints and C++, designed for scalability, clarity and ease of use.
- Build custom tooling, including automated import pipelines and UMG-based debug UIs that animators, designers, QA and engineers use daily.
- Direct animation coders on building the tech behind the gameplay animation systems and databases, and define and review their technical tasks.
- Plan, organize, and direct motion capture shoots with a technical-first approach.
Jan 2023 – Jan 2025
GOALS · Stockholm, Sweden
GOALSAnimation Director
- Led the animation vision and stayed hands-on in technical system design and implementation.
- Managed a team of animators and a technical animator, mentoring them and encouraging task ownership.
- Built and optimized AAA-quality animation systems in Blueprints and C++.
- Took part in studio leadership: hiring, strategic decisions and cross-discipline coordination.
Feb 2019 – Dec 2022
DICE / Electronic Arts · Stockholm, Sweden
Battlefield 2042Senior Animation System Designer
- Rebuilt the entire animation system from the ground up in a live service multiplayer title, around scalability, ease of use and alignment with gameplay requirements.
- Led the integration of motion matching, making animation more fluid in a dynamic multiplayer game.
- Designed and implemented gameplay systems using Frostbite's visual scripting layer.
- Developed custom editors and tools in C# and WPF for animators, designers, and gameplay engineers.
- Created debugging and optimization tools adopted studio-wide, and iteration got faster.
Nov 2017 – Dec 2018
Ubisoft Toronto · Toronto, Canada
Watch Dogs LegionAssociate Technical Director, Animation
- Led technical animation direction on Watch Dogs Legion.
- Bridged animation craft and engineering, defining technical requirements and reviewing implementation.
May 2017 – Nov 2017
Ubisoft Toronto · Toronto, Canada
Watch Dogs LegionTechnical Animator
- Provided technical oversight and mentorship on animation implementation, and guided the team on in-engine best practices.
- Reviewed animation system integration across character and gameplay systems, advised on technical approaches and caught implementation issues early.
- Bridged animation and engineering so animation intent carried through correctly into engine behavior.
2016 – 2017
DICE / Electronic Arts · Stockholm, Sweden
Star Wars Battlefront IILead Gameplay Animator
- Contributed to gameplay animation systems for Battlefront II, building on the first game's architecture.
- Worked on hero character and soldier animation systems across the expanded multiplayer modes and new single-player campaign.
- Collaborated with engineers and designers on Client/Server animation requirements for a larger, more complex feature set than the original.
2015 – 2016
DICE / Electronic Arts · Stockholm, Sweden
Star Wars BattlefrontLead Gameplay Animator
- Worked with Senior Designers, Animation Engineers and the Animation Director to plan, prototype and implement Client/Server gameplay animation systems.
- Led the hero character locomotion and 3rd-person soldier State Machine locomotion systems.
- Improved runtime animation performance by assessing high-cost areas and implementing a LOD animation state for distant characters.
- Created the initial AT-ST and AT-AT vehicle animation systems, which proved the design and assessed the technical cost of animation-driven vehicles in multiplayer.
2013 – 2015
DICE / Electronic Arts · Stockholm, Sweden
Battlefield 4Senior Animator
- Improved physics-driven multiplayer animations using Frostbite's Client/Server gameplay engine and ANT.
- Worked with Designers, Software Engineers, and Animation Director on Client/Server systems: character vaulting, tiered weapon reloading, hit reactions, and 3rd-person locomotion.
Jul 2005 – Dec 2011
Electronic Arts – Tiburon · Orlando, USA
Madden NFL / NCAA FootballSenior Character Animator
- Worked with Software Engineers and Designers to prototype, implement and debug animation-related gameplay systems.
- Assisted in planning, organizing, and directing motion capture shoots.
- Mentored other animators on EA Tiburon proprietary animation technology.
Interested in working together?
Available for select consulting and contract work. Tell me about your project.