About the role
Company Overview
Prismatic Studios is a team of creators shaping the future of interactive technology. The studio works across games and interactive experiences, tackling technical challenges and delivering projects for clients around the world. The company values creativity, collaboration, and growth, aiming to provide an environment where developers can deepen their expertise and do meaningful work. Based in Auckland, some roles may be open to remote candidates within New Zealand. The studio emphasizes mentorship, knowledge sharing, and supporting team members to build their careers at every stage.
Concept Artist (Unannounced Internal IP)
Job Description
Prismatic Studios is developing its first original internal IP and is seeking a Concept Artist to help shape the creative and visual direction. Responsibilities include concepting characters, creatures, locations, and the overall visual style. The role involves exploring ideas from initial sketches to polished artwork and establishing a visual foundation for the art team. You will work closely with the Art Lead to iterate, respond to feedback, and create visual references for 3D asset production.
Key Responsibilities
- Work closely with the Art Lead to define and develop the visual direction of the game.
- Create concept art to explore characters, designs, ideas, and visual styles during early-stage development.
- Develop strong character concepts with a focus on proportion, silhouette, form, and visual appeal.
- Explore and iterate on different artistic directions to help establish the visual look of the game.
- Translate high-level creative ideas into clear and compelling visual concepts.
- Collaborate with design and other members of the development team to support gameplay and worldbuilding.
- Produce concept artwork for use as a visual reference by 3D artists and the production team.
- Iterate quickly based on feedback and contribute to an open, collaborative creative process.
- Help establish and maintain visual consistency as the project’s art direction develops.
Job Requirements
- Proven experience working as a Concept Artist or in a similar art role.
- Strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality character art and concept development.
- Excellent understanding of proportions, form, anatomy, and silhouette.
- Strong visual communication and the ability to develop ideas from rough concepts to polished artwork.
- Ability to work confidently across different artistic styles.
- Strong understanding of composition, colour, shape, and visual storytelling.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
- Ability to take direction, respond to feedback, and iterate quickly.
- Must have the right to work in New Zealand.
Additional Valuable Skills
- Experience with 3D modelling or other 3D workflows.
- Experience working in graphic design.
- Previous experience working in game development.
- Experience with UI design.
- Familiarity with Unreal Engine.
Terms
- Full-time contract.
- Strong preference for on-site (Auckland, New Zealand), with potential for remote work within NZ for the right candidate.
- Contract Rate: NZD $34 – $43.50 / hr.
- Immediate start available.
3D Animator (Unannounced Internal IP)
Job Description
Prismatic Studios is looking for a 3D Animator to join the team developing its first original internal IP. You will be responsible for creating animations for characters and creatures, working across the pipeline from initial animation to in-engine implementation. You will collaborate with the Art Lead and development team to ensure animations support the game’s visual style, gameplay, and overall feel.
Key Responsibilities
- Create high-quality character and creature animations for a melee action game.
- Animate a range of gameplay actions, movement, combat, and other character behaviours.
- Work closely with the Art Lead and development team to ensure animations fit the game’s visual style and gameplay requirements.
- Develop and iterate on animations based on feedback and gameplay testing.
- Prepare and implement animation assets for use in a real-time game environment.
- Help identify and resolve animation issues during development.
- Contribute to the development and refinement of the game’s animation pipeline and processes.
Job Requirements
- Prior experience as a 3D Animator within game development.
- Strong understanding of core animation principles.
- Experience creating character and creature animations for real-time games.
- Familiarity with modern 3D art and animation software (such as Blender, Maya, Houdini, or Unreal Engine).
- Strong portfolio demonstrating character and creature animation.
- Good understanding of how animation needs to be created and prepared for use in a real-time game.
- Ability to work collaboratively with artists, designers, and engineers.
- Strong communication skills and an ability to take feedback and iterate quickly.
- Must have the right to work in New Zealand.
Additional Valuable Skills
- Experience with Unreal Engine animation tools and pipelines.
- Experience with rigging and character setup.
- Experience creating melee combat animations.
- Experience working with motion capture and cleaning or editing mocap data.
- General 3D workflow understanding.
Terms
- Full-time contract.
- Strong preference for on-site (Auckland, New Zealand), with potential for remote work within NZ for the right candidate.
- Contract Rate: NZD $32 – $41.50 / hr.
3D Character Artist (Unannounced Internal IP)
Job Description
Prismatic Studios is looking for a 3D Character Artist to help define and develop characters for its first original internal IP. You will work across the character art pipeline, including high/low-poly modelling, UVs, texturing, and in-engine asset preparation. You will collaborate with the Art Lead to ensure character assets meet the visual and technical requirements of a real-time production environment.
Key Responsibilities
- Create high-quality 3D character assets for the game.
- Work across the character art pipeline, including high-poly and low-poly modelling, UVs, and texturing.
- Create characters that fit the game’s visual style and proportions.
- Work closely with the Art Lead to develop and refine character designs and visual direction.
- Create and refine textures using tools such as Substance Painter or Marmoset.
- Work closely with other artists to ensure characters integrate well with the wider art style and asset pipeline.
- Iterate on assets based on feedback from the Art Lead and wider development team.
- Help identify and resolve artistic and technical issues throughout the character creation process.
Job Requirements
- Experience as a 3D Character Artist, ideally within game development.
- Strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality 3D character art.
- Excellent understanding of human proportions and anatomy.
- Strong understanding of style, shape, and stylised proportions.
- Strong art fundamentals.
- Experience creating both high-poly and low-poly character assets.
- Experience with UV creation and optimisation.
- Experience with texturing tools such as Substance Painter or Marmoset.
- Experience with modern 3D software such as Blender, Maya, 3ds Max, or ZBrush.
- Understanding of the requirements of creating game-ready character assets.
- Ability to work collaboratively with artists, designers, and other members of the development team.
- Strong communication skills and an ability to take feedback and iterate quickly.
- Must have the right to work in New Zealand.
Additional Valuable Skills
- Experience with hand-painted style character art.
- Experience creating 3D assets outside of character art.
- Broader game-ready asset creation experience.
- Understanding of character rigging and setup.
- Experience with weight painting and skinning.
Terms
- Full-time contract.
- Strong preference for on-site (Auckland, New Zealand), with potential for remote work within NZ for the right candidate.
- Contract Rate: NZD $32 – $41.50 / hr.
VFX / Technical Artist (Unannounced Internal IP)
Job Description
Prismatic Studios is seeking a VFX / Technical Artist for its first original internal IP. You will work across areas including Niagara, materials and shaders, PCG, and lighting. You will collaborate with the Art Lead and development team to develop effects, materials, procedural workflows, and solutions. The role requires identifying and solving technical challenges to ensure visual content performs well in-game.
Key Responsibilities
- Create and implement real-time visual effects in Unreal Engine using Niagara.
- Develop materials and shaders to support the game’s visual style and gameplay.
- Explore and develop procedural workflows to improve the creation of game content (such as PCG).
- Contribute to lighting and other visual systems within Unreal Engine.
- Identify and solve artistic and technical challenges throughout development.
- Profile and optimise visual effects, materials, and other art systems to ensure they perform effectively in-game.
- Help develop and refine technical art workflows and processes as the project evolves.
- Support other members of the art team with technical problem-solving where required.
Job Requirements
- Strong experience working with Unreal Engine.
- Experience creating real-time VFX using Niagara.
- Strong understanding of materials and shaders.
- Experience with Unreal Engine PCG or similar procedural systems.
- Experience with lighting within a real-time game environment.
- Understanding of procedural workflows, such as Houdini, PCG, procedural Blender workflows, or similar tools.
- Good understanding of optimisation and the performance requirements of real-time content.
- Ability to work across both the artistic and technical aspects of game development.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills.
- Ability to take direction, solve problems independently, and iterate on solutions.
- Must have the right to work in New Zealand.
Additional Valuable Skills
- 3D modelling experience or broader 3D art experience.
- Strong general art fundamentals.
Terms
- Full-time contract.
- Strong preference for on-site (Auckland, New Zealand), with potential for remote work within NZ for the right candidate.
- Contract Rate: NZD $40 – $50.50 / hr.
Senior 3D Generalist
Job Description
The Senior 3D Generalist will play a key role in creating high-quality, game-ready content across various client projects. This role involves working closely with artists, designers, engineers, and production. The position is broad, requiring comfort in modelling, material creation, and animation, while maintaining a focus on the full real-time content creation pipeline. You will contribute to R&D, improve art pipelines, solve production challenges, and mentor junior artists.
Key Responsibilities
- Create high-quality real-time 3D assets, including modelling, UV mapping, texturing, and material creation.
- Produce high-quality character and creature animations where required.
- Implement and validate assets and animations within Unreal Engine.
- Ensure assets meet visual quality, technical requirements, and performance budgets.
- Work across multiple stages of the content pipeline depending on project needs.
- Identify and resolve production or pipeline issues affecting content creation.
- Contribute to the development and documentation of art pipelines and best practices.
- Review work and provide constructive feedback to other artists.
- Mentor junior artists and help maintain a high standard of quality across the team.
Job Requirements
- 4+ years of professional experience as a 3D Artist or 3D Generalist.
- Strong experience creating high-quality real-time assets for games.
- Professional experience in both 3D modelling and animation.
- Strong proficiency in Maya.
- Experience with Substance Painter or equivalent texturing software.
- Experience implementing assets and animations in Unreal Engine.
- Solid understanding of rigging and animation workflows.
- Strong understanding of real-time rendering, PBR workflows, and optimisation techniques.
- Ability to work across multiple art disciplines depending on project requirements.
- Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate within multidisciplinary teams.
- Self-driven, organised, and capable of independently managing workload.
- Must have the right to work in New Zealand.
Education Background
- A relevant qualification in 3D Art, Animation, Game Development, or equivalent experience.
Additional Valuable Skills
- Chinese language proficiency (Very valuable due to international team collaboration).
- A strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality real-time assets.
- Familiarity with rigging or technical art workflows.
Terms
- Full-time on-site contract role based in Auckland, New Zealand.
- Contract Rate: NZD $45 – $57.50 / hr.
Game Designer
Job Description
The Game Designer will design and deliver gameplay systems, mechanics, and content across client projects. You will own design work end-to-end, from documentation to playtesting and iteration. You will contribute to client R&D projects by prototyping early designs, exploring mechanics, and validating concepts.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, own, and implement gameplay systems, mechanics, and level content across client projects, collaborating closely with Art, Engineering, and Production teams.
- Translate high-level creative direction into clear, actionable designs.
- Produce and maintain high-quality design documentation (GDDs, feature specs, and supporting materials).
- Lead playtesting and balance reviews, translating feedback into clear insights and actionable iteration plans.
- Conduct in-depth competitor analysis and gameplay research.
- Collaborate with production to support planning, scoping, and task tracking.
- Contribute to R&D initiatives, exploring and validating new tools, workflows, and design approaches.
- Collaborate closely with other disciplines and external stakeholders.
- Provide guidance and mentorship to junior designers.
Job Requirements
- 3+ years of experience as a Game Designer (or equivalent), with shipped titles or meaningful contributions to commercial game projects.
- Strong understanding of gameplay systems, player experience, and game feel, with the ability to design engaging and well-balanced core loops.
- Ability to take ownership of features and deliver them end-to-end.
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience creating clear, structured design documentation.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and design/ideation tools (Figma, Miro, XMind, Visio).
- Experience working with project management and collaboration tools such as Jira, Confluence, and version control systems (e.g., Git).
- Solid understanding of game development pipelines and cross-discipline workflows.
- Hands-on experience with industry-standard game engines such as Unity or Unreal Engine.
- Self-driven, reliable, and comfortable working in fast-paced, collaborative environments.
- Must have the right to work in New Zealand.
Additional Valuable Skills
- Chinese language proficiency (Very valuable due to international team collaboration).
- A portfolio showcasing shipped work, prototypes, or high-quality personal projects.
Terms
- Full-time on-site contract role based in Auckland, New Zealand.