14 Game Artist jobs in the United States

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 an Associate Environment Artist to help us craft a new, unannounced game for Blizzard. As an associate member of the development team, you will be responsible for delivering high-quality environment artwork through your artistic and technical knowledge. You will contribute to build ing , integrat ing , and optimiz ing a variety of environment asset types as well as support ing the gameplay experience. You are comfortable operating in a dynamic environment, navigating fluid deadlines and changing priorities with purpose.

This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home . The potential home studio for this role is Irvine, CA.

Responsibilities:

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Working closely with the environment leadership team, collaborate with designers, artists, engineers, materials, VFX, and lighting departments to deliver game environment artwork .
• Dev e lop functional skills in environment art creation to contribute to our working practices from iterative prototyping to final best-in-class execution across a range of environment tasks including level set-dressing, collaboration with external partners, terrain manipulation, and material work.
• Work with production to complete tasks within the given timeframe .
• Remain current on industry trends including advancement in commercial game engines and workflow efficiencies.

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• 2 + years of experience in game art environment pipeline .

Knowledge & Skills

• Comfortable working in a commercial AAA game engine with strong understanding of implementation and integration.
• Strong understanding of key aspects of environment art creation including proficiency in industry-standard 3D workflows.
• A portfolio with examples and detailed breakdowns showcasing your practical work.
• Understanding of authoring PBR-compliant content.

Key Attributes

• 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 deliver on tasks in a timely manner.

Extra Points

• 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.
• Passion for playing a variety of video games .
• Knowledge of 3D composition, form, balance, and color theory.
• Passion for playing a variety of video games .

Netflix is one of the world's leading entertainment services, with over 300 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, films and games across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can play, pause and resume watching as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, and can change their plans at any time.

ABOUT OUR TEAM

We're a group of developers, artists, and storytellers who make games full of wonder, danger, and humor. Everyone at our studio, whether an industry vet or a new voice, impacts each game through collaborative feedback, mutual respect, and creative empowerment. If you want to make games that leave a meaningful impact on players, we want to hear from you.

We're looking for new teammates who deeply care about their work, the stories they tell, and the people they create with. As part of the Netflix team, we strive to hire the best and value integrity, excellence, respect, inclusion, and collaboration.

Learn how our story-loving game people came to join Netflix's team of game-loving story people.

Art at Night School Studio

Our artists are the architects of immersive worlds, bringing our interactive stories to life. We create world-class narrative games where the visual experience is as compelling as the story. Each game boasts a unique art style that enhances its design and narrative, making every project a new adventure.

About the Job

We're looking for an experienced, full-time Lead Artist to guide the art team toward a compelling and clear art direction for one of our game titles. In this role, you will be responsible for leading the team toward artistic excellence in collaboration with the game director and project leadership. You will both oversee project planning, resourcing and art execution with the support of the studio art director and a team of artists.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with the game director, studio art director, and art team to drive and define the vision for the game. Responsible for championing the vision for art throughout development.
• Define and communicate needs, resourcing, priorities, and process to achieve a high-quality bar for art on an in-development game. Advocate for what the art team needs to be successful.
• Creates guiding pieces of art, documentation, and other resources to drive a cohesive and clear vision for the game's art direction.
• Collaborate with the producers and game director to create and deliver high-level plans for discipline sprints, milestones, and phases.
• Delivers timely and accurate feedback to individual contributors on the project, working through the art team and other collaborators to execute the creative vision.
• Collaborate with external vendors, freelancers, and co-dev partners.
• Provides regular updates to managers and project/studio leadership to inform feedback to teammates.
• Represent art in meetings/presentations with partners with a high level of clarity and expertise.
• Provides mentorship and coaching to members of the art team, leading them both toward project success and individual skill improvement. Shares feedback and insights regularly with the studio art director and art manager.

• 10 years of experience crafting video game art, with 3 years as a Lead Artist or Art Director.
• Deftly navigates and leads through the uncertainty of game development and creative discovery.
• Extensive experience in illustration and/or 3d art with the proven ability to develop a unique and cohesive visual style in collaboration with others.
• Proven ability to visually solve problems in collaboration with the broader game team, including other artists, engineering leads, and design leads.
• Excellent written and verbal communication. Comfortable interacting with and presenting to all levels of the company.
• Excellent attention to detail and a strong desire to iterate and improve on processes.
• Demonstrated fundamentals of leadership, including clear and proactive communication, meeting moderation, and oversight of large cross-disciplinary initiatives.
• Ability to manage multiple competing tasks and be self-directed to meet deadlines in a quickly evolving environment with little to no supervision.
• Positive attitude and ability to receive and provide objective and constructive feedback.
• Ability to coach, manage, mitigate, and prioritize through stressful situations for you and your team.
• A strategic thinker with the ability to identify risks, opportunities, and innovations.

• Create complex photorealistic CG environments with an emphasis on matching the look of realistic practical assets while working within the production schedule and meeting established deadlines while monitoring ShotGrid for assignments.
• Generate 2D and 3D backgrounds, layouts, and CG environments. to establish a cohesive digital world for stop motion animated films.
• Obtain a level of realism based on the art direction of the project.
• Assemble environment assets in Houdini for use in downstream departments.
• Use in-house Houdini scattering tools, grass and ivy systems, and tree and shrub tools to build highly designed and photorealistic landscapes matching sets and elements shot on practical stages.
• Contribute to the development of visual ideas that enhance the story through collaboration.
• Incorporate environments into shot designs.
• Participate in review sessions on a consistent basis.

• 3+ years' experience designing CG environments and backgrounds for photorealistic feature films and television.
• Excellent sense of color, lighting, texture, perspective, and composition.
• Strong understanding of geography and landscape.
• Strong aesthetic sense and ability to interpret the unique 'style' of the film into 3D designs.
• Advanced Houdini experience in environment creation, specifically heightfield and scatter tools.
• Experience working in a USD pipeline
• Working knowledge of 3D software in a production environment (e.g., Zbrush, Mari, Maya, Blender).
• Knowledge of Katana, RenderMan, Unreal, Photoshop, and Nuke a plus.
• Ability to take direction and work both collaboratively and independently as a problem-solver.
• Deadline driven; able to multi-task, adapt, and work well under pressure.

• Physical demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to walk; stand; sit; use hands to operate standard office equipment; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop; talk or hear both in person and by telephone. The employee must lift and/or move up to 15 pounds. Vision abilities include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Work environment: While performing the duties of this job, the employee works under typical office conditions and is exposed to variable indoor temperatures. The noise level is usually quiet or moderate.

Bonfire Studios is seeking an exceptional Lead Environment Artist to guide our team in crafting the immersive world of our Arkheron, our latest original IP. The ideal candidate is a proven leader with a deep passion for world-building, a strong artistic vision, and the ability to mentor and inspire a team of talented artists.

In this role, you will be responsible for setting the artistic and technical standards for environment art, driving creative solutions, and ensuring our world is visually stunning and cohesive. This is an opportunity to take ownership, lead by example, and help shape both the game and the team.

Bonfire Studios thrives on collaboration, trust, and shared ownership. As a Lead Environment Artist, you will play a critical role in building a culture of excellence, fostering team growth, and ensuring that our environmental storytelling enhances gameplay and player experience.

About the role.

• Inspire and guide: Lead and mentor a team of environment artists, fostering a collaborative and growth-oriented environment by setting expectations and providing constructive feedback to help artists grow and succeed.
• Shape the vision: Drive the creative and technical vision for environment art, ensuring a consistent and high-quality aesthetic.
• Craft immersive worlds: Take high-level ideas and undefined concepts - even as rough as a whiteboard sketch - and develop them into fully realized game environments.
• Ensure quality and efficiency: Be accountable for the team's output, delivering polished, immersive worlds that align with gameplay needs.
• Collaborate across disciplines: Work closely with design, engineering, and other teams to align art direction with gameplay, technical constraints, and performance goals. Ensure environment art assets meet artistic, technical, and optimization standards for a seamless player experience.
• Balance leadership and hands-on creation: You'll lead a small, focused, highly collaborative team where you'll push ideas forward independently, without much guidance, while adapting and iterating based on the needs of the game. You'll set the standard for quality while guiding the team and contributing to asset creation.
• Embrace innovation: Research new tools, workflows, and techniques to push the quality bar.
• Build the team: Contribute to studio-wide hiring, onboarding, and team-building efforts to cultivate and grow our environment art discipline.
• Foster accountability and self-sufficiency within the team-while support is available, success in this role requires the ability to drive ideas forward and problem-solve proactively.

• Are an experienced leader: You have leadership experience in a AAA environment art role and thrive on mentoring and developing teams.
• Thrive on ownership: You have a strong sense of ownership and enjoy being accountable for a team's success.
• Are self-driven: You thrive in ambiguity and can take a high-level vision and turn it into reality without needing every detail defined.
• Have shipped a AAA title: You have 7+ years of experience as an Environment Artist in game development, with at least one shipped AAA title in a leadership role.
• Excel in small teams: You produce your best work on small, collaborative teams. If you produce your best work on big teams with lots of specialized roles, this is not the right fit for you.
• Have a strong artistic eye: You possess a keen eye for architecture, material definition, lighting, color theory, and world-building.
• Are technically proficient: You are highly proficient in Maya (or other 3D modeling packages), ZBrush, Photoshop, and Substance Painter.
• Understand game engines: You have extensive experience working with game engines (Unreal, Unity) and understand PBR materials, UV layout, performance optimizations, and world-building workflows.
• Value collaboration: You can effectively communicate and collaborate across disciplines.
• Are passionate about mentorship: You are passionate about team development and fostering a positive, inclusive work environment.
• Balance creativity and production: You understand how to balance creative vision with production realities and are skilled at making strategic trade-offs.
• Have a growth mindset: You value both teaching and learning from others.

• Are passionate about our game: We're excited to playtest it daily as a team and can't wait to share it with the world!
• Strive for excellence: We're dedicated to excellence and love pushing the limits of what we can create together.
• Value ownership: We care about building an environment where people have meaningful impact and ownership of their work.
• Build authentic relationships: We prioritize strong relationships and regularly bring people together.
• Encourage growth: We offer opportunities to learn and contribute beyond your focused discipline.

Ability to work hybrid from our Santa Monica, CA based studio is required.

For nearly 40 years, Naughty Dog has been crafting best-selling, critically acclaimed games that constantly push the boundaries of narrative, gameplay, and technology. Naughty Dog recently released The Last of Us Part II Remastered as well as a current generation remake of The Last of Us Part I for the PS5. We're also proud to say that The Last of Us Parts I and II are now available for the first time on PC. Currently, we're busy at the kennel working on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and we'd love to find talented individuals to join us.

Naughty Dog games have long been lauded for their evocative, character-driven stories and attention to detail. We are committed to innovation within our games and as such have curated some of the top creative and technically innovative minds in the industry. We welcome diverse candidates and believe that a broad range of cultural and life experiences contribute to the overall well-being and success of the studio and the titles we craft together.

We are looking for an experienced Environment Artist to help us push the boundaries to define the future of narrative entertainment. If you are detail oriented and comfortable in the AAA game space and want to be part of groundbreaking projects, you may just be the Dog we're looking for!

What you will do:

• Develop 3d assets with corresponding materials and construct scenes covering a range of subjects

• Troubleshoot and maintain levels to stay in frame rate, memory, and design spec

• Act as point of contact to achieve design and art direction goals as it pertains to building game art

• Create layouts for environments that are visually dynamic and achieve gameplay goals

• 5+ years' experience creating high quality environments and at least one shipped AAA title

• Strong layout skills and the ability to ideate effectively with minimal concept art and direction

• Strong ability to define complex looks for the most challenging levels with minimal concept art and direction

• Expert understanding of how to build environments in AAA game development

• Collaborative mindset while working closely with other departments to find and propose solutions for the betterment of the game

• Strong art sensibilities related to color, composition, and scale

• Self-motivated - can execute the vision for the level until completion in a timely and efficient manner

• Full understanding of modeling as demonstrated by the ability to create high quality architecture and organic models

• Able to achieve a high level of detail through modern modeling techniques and a strong understanding of modular construction

• Strong polygonal modeling skills - able to generate clean and efficient models

• Create and apply materials across a variety of subject matter

• Strong ability to create tiling and trim texture sets

• Proficient at sculpting/painting surface details and controlling shader features that represent a wide variety of material types

About the job Senior 2D Environment Artist

You will play a key role in bringing our game worlds to life by creating stunning and visually appealing environments. An essential aspect of the role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams, including 3D artists, animators and VFX artists. The goal is to provide a comprehensive visual foundation that not only captivates players but also is a blueprint for the creation of 3D models, textures, animation and VFX. By maintaining a harmonious blend of creativity and technical understanding, the Senior 2D Environment Artist contributes significantly to the exploration and storytelling of the Bazaar world.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with art director, management and leads to design and concept captivating environments that seamlessly integrate within project art style
• Participate in the iterative development process, incorporating notes and ideas and making necessary adjustments to achieve the desired visual quality
• Work closely with other artists, designers, and developers to ensure seamless integration of 2D assets into the pipeline.
• Maintain clean and organized file structure, follow documentation and naming conventions.
• Track progress systematically using Jira and other designated art review tools.

• 3+ years professional experience with focus on environment art
• Solid understanding of composition, color theory, and visual storytelling.
• Ability to create assets that align with the hand painterly look of the Bazaar.
• Attention to detail, meticulous and organized working habits
• Expert knowledge of job related tools and software
• Experience with 3D modeling or knowledge of 3D pipelines.
• Excellent communication skills to collaborate with the art team, leads, and production.
• Passion for art, games and knowledge of the games industry.

• Competitive salary
• Remote work model
• Unlimited paid time off and sick leave
• Career growth opportunities in a dynamic, rapidly growing company
• Collaborate with a highly skilled team

As a Senior 3D Environment Artist on the VALORANT team, you will report to the 3D Environment Art Lead and will help create the handcrafted visual style of the project. Additionally, you will find the right balance between creating a beautiful world and its gameplay. You'll also help to oversee the creation of the project's environments through modeling, sculpting, texturing, and lighting.
Responsibilities:

• Create the look/feel of 3D assets ranging from hard surface structures to organic foliage
• Influence asset creation pipeline with your understanding of optimized low poly asset creation such as modular kits to take into account efficiency, speed, and cross dependencies
• Work with various materials from hand-painted diffuse to PBR workflows
• Work on lighting for various environments
• Interpret and push concept designs to the next level while taking into account technical and design constraints such as draw calls, poly counts, texture memory limits, and gameplay boundaries
• Communicate with various other disciplines to ensure all assets are optimized and performant
• Serve as a mentor to more junior environment artists on the team

• 5+ years of professional experience as an environment artist
• Professional experience working in stylized art styles
• Professional experience working in Maya, Photoshop, and Z-Brush

• Professional experience working in Unreal engine
• Strong understanding of Substance and PBR workflows

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

As part of the Environment Art team, you will channel your knowledge of concepting, modeling, and texturing to help tell stories through visually compelling environments. Working within both design and technical constraints you will build optimized environments that elevate the purpose and mood of the game. Your craft expertise and eye for structure, form, shape language, and design will help develop and build fantastic new worlds for our players to explore.

As a Senior 3D Environment Artist on the Maps and Modes team you will report to a 3D Environment Art Manager. Your modeling skills, artistic eye, and understanding of composition, form, lighting and color will be used to create 3D assets to help refine League of Legends visual art style. You will work closely with Product and Delivery Leads to stay aligned on vision and priorities. Using your craft expertise and high-level collaboration, you'll work with an experienced and passionate team to deliver immersive and enriching experiences to players.

Responsibilities:

• Create 3D Art using a combination of modeling, procedural and hand crafted texturing.
• Create modular environment tilesets, key assets and props in League of Legend's art style and visual bar.
• Use Z-Brush along with Substance Designer/Painter to create 3D assets in League's art style that are baseline procedurally textured and then polished with a skilled hand painted style.
• Work with Tech Art to create and export assets to the game engine.
• Provide timely feedback and paintovers to team members and outsourcers to help guide them in producing high quality assets aligned with the vision of the product.
• Collaborate with Concept, Tech art, Animation VFX, and Narrative, Audio, Design and Engineering teams to create resonating visuals that enhance the player experience in League of Legends.
• Drive the development and documentation for standard operating procedures.
• Maintain open and frequent communication with Production and other Craft leads.

• 5+ years experience creating 3D environment props and/or characters in games, animation, or related industries.
• Advanced skills in 3D/2D Software - Maya, ZBrush, Photoshop and Substance Painter.
• Demonstrated a deep understanding of composition, form, color theory and anatomy.
• Demonstrated ability to create stylized environments through past professional or personal work samples.

• Familiarity with the League of Legends IP and skins universe
• Experience working with external vendors, giving thorough direction and delivering timely, clear feedback

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

• (Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $135,700.00 - $188,700.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.