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Art Director - Never Alone Sequel
5 months ago
Founded in 2008, E-Line Media is a video-game developer and publisher passionate about making commercial games with meaningful themes and authentic voices. The company’s titles include the BAFTA and Peabody award-winning Never Alone, Jackson-Wild award-winning Beyond Blue, Gamestar Mechanic, and MinecraftEdu.
E-Line’s games have reached over 25 million players. The company is a mission-based, for-profit enterprise whose stakeholders seek both market-level financial returns and positive social impact.
Want to work for a company actively trying to make great games that engage and inspire players and make a positive impact in the world? We’d love to hear from you!
About the position:
E-Line is seeking a visionary, forward-thinking Art Director to join our team and help us realize and expand the visual tone, mood, and artistic direction set out by the original Never Alone as we return for another adventure. You will be at the helm of shaping captivating visual worlds in this role.
The ideal candidate will possess a strong artistic vision, a dedication to beauty and craftsmanship, and the leadership skills necessary to inspire and work with a team of talented artists. You will collaborate with the Project Directors and Team to bring life to the amazing world of Never Alone and all its inhabitants.
Although E-Line’s headquarters are in Phoenix, we work with game development talent around the world. This is a remote position open to candidates worldwide. However, candidates who can overlap with the North American working hours will be given preference.
As our Art Director, you will …
- Lead the art team to deliver high-quality assets and atmospheric experiences that align with the artistic vision and technical requirements of the project.
- Collaborate with the Creative Director and Lead Designer to develop environments and characters that meet the aesthetic, ludic, and narrative objectives of the game.
- Take a hands-on approach to iterating, demonstrating, and delivering a variety of assets as necessary.
- Work with riggers and animators to ensure models deform correctly and are fully functional for animation needs.
- Oversee the creation of textures and shaders to achieve the stylized and culturally informed look of Never Alone.
- Contribute to the development of art pipelines ensuring consistency between the world and characters.
- Mentor and support team members, fostering a collaborative and productive environment.
- Coordinate with the production team to manage deliverables, ensuring that milestones and deadlines are met.
We’re looking for someone who has …
- Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in the video game industry.
- Proven track record of working on multiple shipped titles as a senior artist or in a leadership role.
- Proficient in industry-standard art tools such as Maya, ZBrush, Unreal Engine, Substance, etc.
- Strong understanding of current game development pipelines and techniques
- A strong and diverse artistic portfolio showcasing creativity, originality, and a solid understanding of various art styles, with emphasis on world and environments
- Demonstrated leadership experience, preferably as a Lead Artist or Art Director, and the ability to contribute to and drive the overall artistic vision of the game.
- Experience in managing art production schedules, deadlines, and resource allocation.
- Experience managing the outsourcing process and working with external teams, for a range of asset types.
- Ability to lead and inspire a team of artists, providing direction, feedback, and support.
Top Reasons to Work with Us
- Being part of an enthusiastic, diverse team that wants to make games with a positive impact.
- Co-create an authentic game experience in collaboration with our project partners.
- A positive, healthy remote work environment with flexible and reasonable hours.
- We provide competitive salaries with full medical benefits and matching 401k, as well as paid paternity/maternity leave, vacation, holidays, and sick/wellness days.
About E-Line Media:
We’re E-Line Media, a video game developer and publisher passionate about harnessing the power of games to help players understand and shape the world.
E-Line was founded in 2008 with the mission of developing games that fire the imagination, catalyze curiosity, explore meaningful themes, and provide gateways to new perspectives and interests. The Company is a mission-driven, for-profit enterprise whose investors seek market-level financial returns and positive social impact. The company’s titles include the BAFTA award-winning Never Alone , Beyond Blue , Gamestar Mechanic , and The Endless Mission . We use what we call an “inclusive development process” to make games with the communities and cultures we explore. We’re hand-in-hand from the start of the process through to the end to bring as much authenticity to the medium as possible.
About the project:
The first game, Never Alone, was developed by E-Line Media and the Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC), a pioneering Alaska Native organization, with the goal of sharing, celebrating, and extending Alaska Native culture with a global audience. The game explores a story passed down for thousands of years, is in the Inupiat language, and features 26 mini-documentary 'cultural insights' that get unlocked through gameplay.
Never Alone has touched a nerve globally. It has been downloaded over 10 million times, featured in over 1000 articles, and won many awards, including a BAFTA and a PEABODY. The game is featured in museums around the world, including the Smithsonian and MoMa. CITC has converted their revenue in the game into equity in E-Line, and they're E-Line's largest shareholder, and their Chairman is the CEO of the Tribal Council.
We believe players are more than ready for their next adventure with Nuna and Fox, and we are excited to work on the sequel. The second game, Never Alone 2, will build on what players liked about Never Alone 1 (authentic culture, beautiful, evocative world, co-op gameplay with Nuna and Fox, spirit helpers, unlockable ‘insights’), now enabling them to go much deeper in terms of innovative gameplay and cultural exploration. NA2 will take players on a moving, spiritual journey through fun gameplay, developed inclusively with the Alaska Native community.
Websites
E-Line Media values diverse perspectives and voices on our teams. We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
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