About the role
Position Overview
As a Principal 3D Character Artist within the Research & Development team, you will bring characters to life by crafting and texturing high fidelity models for a new unpublished AAA game. You will help build iconic characters and cosmetics, acting as a key style advocate. Working within technical and design constraints, you will use your knowledge of proportions, anatomy, and readability to ensure models are optimized for the game. You will be self-guided, help raise the bar for character art, mentor other character artists, and support the creation and upholding of style guides. You will partner with other departments to execute a unique visual style and create satisfying experiences for players.
Responsibilities
- Produce the look and feel of high fidelity 3D characters and cosmetic assets.
- Understand project requirements to influence and create in-game assets that are optimized, performant, and animation friendly.
- Interpret and push concept designs to the next level while accounting for technical and design constraints.
- Collaborate with various other disciplines to ensure all assets perform and are in line with project vision, style guides, and ready to scale through a cosmetics pipeline.
- Document and communicate processes to others and mentor junior members of the team.
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years of character modeling experience as a Senior or Principal Artist in the gaming industry.
- Strong experience working with modeling, sculpting, and texturing programs such as Maya, Zbrush, and Substance Painter.
- Extensive Unreal Engine 5+ experience.
- Deep knowledge of human anatomy, form, and color theory.
- Proactively stay up-to-date with industry trends and new processes.
- Proven ability to set quality bars and provide actionable craft feedback to other artists.
- A portfolio that shows a range of character styles and fidelities.
- Experience collaborating across disciplines to solve visual, technical, and production challenges.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience working on cosmetic pipelines for live service game operations.
- Experience shipping multiple games and/or content for multiple live games.
Compensation and Benefits
- Base Salary Range: $166,600.00 - $232,800.00 USD.
- Additional Compensation: Incentive compensation and equity.
- Retirement: 401K with company match.
- Insurance: Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance.
- Disability: Short and long-term disability.
- Time Off: Open paid time off policy.
- Balance: Flexible work schedules.
- Family Support: Parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children.
Culture and Environment
- Riot Games focuses on work/life balance and maintains a mission to put players first.
- Teams are collaborative, empowered to bring unique perspectives, and work together to create immersive experiences.
- Equal Opportunity: Riot Games provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members, including reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled employees.
- Disqualification Factors (Los Angeles): Due to the nature of the work, candidates with criminal histories may be disqualified based on duties involving:
- Safeguarding confidential and sensitive company data.
- Communication with others, including Rioters, third parties, vendors, and players (including minors).
- Accessing company assets, secure digital systems, and networks.
- Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters.