Character Artist

Location and Company Overview

• Location: On-site in Santa Monica, California.
• Company: Naughty Dog.
• Background: Nearly 40 years of creating best-selling, critically acclaimed games. Recent titles include The Last of Us Part II Remastered and The Last of Us Part I for PS5. Currently developing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
• Culture: Committed to innovation, character-driven storytelling, and attention to detail. Welcomes diverse candidates and values a broad range of cultural and life experiences.

Responsibilities

• Perform sculpting/modeling of outfits, people, and animals for a realistic world setting.
• Texture clothing with an emphasis on wear, including grime and damage to provide each asset with a backstory.
• Texture skin, including sub-surface scattering, discoloration, and imperfections.
• Conduct retopology and efficient UV layout.
• Create hair cards/fur and set up shaders.
• Collaborate with other departments such as Concept art, shading, and rigging to develop a high-quality production pipeline.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in any field or foreign equivalent degree.
• Experience: Two (2) years of experience as a character artist or in a related occupation.
• Industry Experience: Proven experience working on AAA titles as a character artist.
• Technical Knowledge:
  • Proficiency in clothing folds and human anatomy.
  • Understanding of game production pipelines.
  • Ability to create "lived in" clothing assets (e.g., color fades, tears, grime).
  • Ability to create natural-looking skin (e.g., color variations, veins, discoloration, imperfections).
• Software Proficiencies:
  • Zbrush
  • Autodesk Maya
  • Substance Painter
  • Photoshop

Compensation and Benefits

• Base Pay Range: $85,000 — $135,000 USD (Los Angeles area).
• Additional Compensation: Role may be eligible for additional compensation packages including annual bonuses and other incentive plans.

Additional Information

• Background Checks: Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees, which may include criminal background checks.
• Data Privacy: Personal information will be processed to support background checks; please refer to the Candidate Privacy Notice for information on data collection, usage, and protection rights.