This job might no longer be available.
Senior Environment Artist (Unannounced Project)
1 year ago
We are ArenaNet—we’ve created a studio that makes online worlds infused with innovation, hand-crafted excellence, and creative passion. We're not the only ones who share this passion; gamers made Guild Wars 2 the fastest selling MMO game in the West with more than 3 million copies sold in its first 9 months, and players and press have consistently called it one of the best MMOs of all time.
We’re a highly collaborative team of developers who are passionate about crafting beautiful and memorable player-focused experiences. We are innovators and problem solvers, and believe the best creations come from teams that can share their diverse perspectives and experiences within a culture of high creative agency.
Who we are looking for
As our Senior Environment Artist, you are highly familiar with the full 3D asset production pipeline for next-gen AAA development, from greybox prototyping to optimized final art. You have demonstrated experience modeling, sculpting, and texturing realistic organic environment assets and architecture alike, and you have a portfolio of work that demonstrates this skillset. You can proactively gather references and design assets without always requiring concept art to be provided to you beforehand.
Your eye for strong aesthetic design is matched with a considered approach to technical execution – you champion the benefits of working efficiently, utilizing modern workflows and methodologies to achieve high quality results at scale. You know where to best focus your efforts by understanding the asset intent and its context within the broader game. You enjoy defining this intent with others through brainstorming and deep collaboration.
Innovative technical solutions and next-gen, cutting-edge technology excites you. A growth mindset is core to your approach, and you are a lifelong learner. You love to learn from your teammates, from industry experts, from your own investigations, and you enjoy sharing that knowledge and expertise back in kind.
As an experienced game developer, you understand the value of adopting a player-focused, holistic approach to asset creation and world development. You look for opportunities to deliver stunning visual experiences that resonate emotionally while enhancing gameplay, storytelling, and immersion.
Strong communication skills are critical to this role as you’ll be working within a deeply interconnected team of artists, designers, engineers, writers, and other disciplines on a regular basis. You proactively reach out and connect with others, asking questions, sharing progress, and brainstorming solutions, rather than waiting for others to reach out to you.
You also understand the value of balancing work with your personal life, such that you work efficiently during work hours and give yourself and your teammates the time to take care of yourself and the ones you love.
As Senior Environment Artist, you will…
- Play a critical role in defining the look and feel of the game by generating a range of realistic AAA environment assets that establish visual and technical targets.
- Develop stunning natural environment assets, props, and architecture using scalable techniques
- Create quick blockout meshes and to support level design prototyping efforts
- Ensure assets and proposed solutions are performant, scalable, and work within engine/platform constraints.
- Proactively interface with leadership and peers to ensure strong communication is maintained throughout development of cross-functional endeavors.
- Collaborate with others to define and document standards and best practices
- Work closely with others to explore innovative technical solutions and processes
What This Role Requires
- Professional game industry experience as an Environment Artist.
- A portfolio of work demonstrating your technical and artistic skills across a range of realistic AAA environment assets like botanicals, props, and architecture.
- Ability to develop modular architectural sets.
- Deep knowledge of modern content creation pipelines and techniques, including PBR texturing workflows and procedural content generation in Substance Painter / Substance Designer.
- Expertise with industry-standard modeling and sculpting software like Maya or 3DsMax, and ZBrush.
- Experience working in modern game engines like Unreal Engine 4+.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills, and the ability to write clear documentation.
- Ability to self-manage your time, effectively prioritizing your work and schedule without heavy oversight.
- Ability to develop assets without requiring concept art.
- A passion for the aesthetic and the technical aspects of developing real-time game assets, and an interest in exploring how to push both to new heights.
Nice To Have
- Experience with Speedtree.
- Experience as a Worldbuilder on a shipped title.
- Familiarity with procedural approaches to level creation.
- Experience working with photogrammetry assets.
- Ability to work in multiple art styles.
- Familiarity working with traditional media.
We are open to remote work in AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, IL, MA, MD, NC, NV, NY OR, TX, UT and WA or onsite/hybrid/flex at our office in Bellevue, WA.
Total compensation is salary plus an annual bonus potential . Please note that the listed pay range is a general guideline only. We take into consideration the geography in which you live and your experience and qualifications when determining final salary. This role is also eligible for medical, dental, vision and life insurance, short and long term disability, 401(k), flexible and dependent care spending accounts, PTO, paid holidays and parental leave.
Remote pay range
$90,000 — $135,000 USD
Create Your Profile — Game companies can contact you with their relevant job openings.