Lead Environment Artist - Unannounced Game | Irvine, CA
Blizzard Entertainment - Irvine, CA
posted 1 day ago
About the position
At Blizzard, we craft genre-defining games and legendary worlds for all to share. Through unparalleled creativity and storytelling, we create immersive universes and iconic characters that are beloved across platforms, borders, backgrounds, and generations - only made possible by building a work environment that nurtures the artistry of game development and unleashes the aspirations of our people. We are looking for a Lead Environment Artist to help us define and craft Blizzard's next great game. As a key member of the development team, you will be responsible for delivering high-quality Environment work through artistic and technical knowledge, team building, and leadership. You understand how to effectively build, integrate, and optimize a variety of Environment content that supports gameplay and hits iconic visual standards. You are comfortable operating in a startup environment, navigating through ambiguity with purpose. This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The home studio for this role is Irvine, CA.
Responsibilities
- Working closely with the Art Director, you will collaborate with designers, artists, code, Materials, VFX and Lighting departments to define and deliver game environments to a world class standard.
- Use your expertise in Environment Art creation to guide our working practices from iterative prototyping to final best-in-class execution.
- Create artifacts (content creation briefs, presentations) to guide the work of internal and external artists.
- Directly contribute to and oversee the practical work of taking Environments from concept to completion.
- Remain current on industry trends including advancement in commercial game engines and workflow efficiencies.
- Own and drive the most creatively challenging artwork, demonstrating the high bar for your department.
- Proactively identify risks and propose solutions within the area of Environment Art creation.
- Level up your team's abilities through mentorship of skills, process, and artistic techniques.
Requirements
- 8+ years of experience in AAA Environment Art.
- Proven experience, having shipped multiple major titles in a relevant role.
- Experience in a Leadership position managing a team of Artists.
- Experience working with a AAA game engine with strong understanding of implementation and integration into the pipeline.
- Comprehensive understanding of all aspects of Environment Art creation including strong proficiency in industry-standard 3D workflows.
- A portfolio, with examples and detailed breakdowns, showcasing your work.
- Strong understanding of authoring PBR content.
- Experience developing pipelines and collaborating with Engineers and Tech Artists to develop technology.
- A team-oriented approach to your work, understanding the importance of collaboration, and partnering with all departments.
- The ability to Inspire others with an enthusiastic approach to game development and improving core skills.
- Self-motivated ability to lead initiatives.
Nice-to-haves
- Experience working through early development R&D phases of a project is a plus.
- Solid understanding of game art creation outside of Environment Art (e.g. Lighting, VFX, Characters, Animation, Rendering).
- An interest in Photography and Cinema.
- Experience creating and handling photogrammetry data.
- Expertise in 3D composition, form, balance, and color theory.
- Passion for playing a variety of video games.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance.
- 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching.
- Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave.
- Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others.
- If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.
