Level Artist

Job Overview

Join us on our journey and help us collaborate towards our newly announced game: Blood Message. The game is set in historical China and features a realistic visual style and authentic traditional combat gameplay. The project uses Unreal Engine 5 and is co-developed in collaboration between Montreal and our main studio in China. The position is currently open to candidates in Montreal or Toronto.

Key Responsibilities

• Artistic Leadership and Vision: Collaborate with the Art Director to define and implement the artistic direction for game levels, ensuring environments are visually striking, authentic to historical China, and balanced with gameplay functionality. Contribute innovative ideas to shape the visual style, drawing inspiration from Chinese history, culture, movies, and art.
• Research and Cultural Authenticity: Conduct research into historical Chinese geography, architecture, and cultural elements to ensure authenticity in level design. Use reference materials to guide artistic license while maintaining a unique and engaging aesthetic.
• Environment Production: Oversee the end-to-end production pipeline for level art, from concept to final polish, creating lush, pixel-perfect levels that support Blood Message’s realistic visual style. Ensure environments enhance exploration, storytelling, and gameplay mechanics like traditional combat and traversal.
• Narrative-Driven Design: Work with Level Designers, narrative teams, and the Art Director to craft environments that support storytelling through details, lighting, composition, and contrast, conveying emotional and narrative depth.
• Team Leadership and Mentorship: Lead and mentor a team of level artists, providing constructive feedback, setting quality standards, and fostering a collaborative environment. Act as a bridge between the Art Director and the team to maintain visual consistency, manage workloads, and meet project milestones.
• Pipeline and Workflow Development: Establish and maintain efficient art pipelines and workflows for level creation, optimization, and integration into Unreal Engine 5. Contribute innovative ideas to streamline processes and ensure seamless collaboration with the China-based studio.
• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Foster communication and collaboration with Level Designers, programmers, animators, and QA teams to balance gameplay mechanics and visual storytelling. Participate in production meetings to identify, prioritize, and distribute tasks.
• Problem-Solving and Innovation: Troubleshoot artistic and technical challenges, devising creative solutions to maintain visual excellence and performance. Stay updated on industry trends and Unreal Engine 5 advancements.
• Communication with China Studio: Provide regular progress updates, share information, and maintain effective communication with the China-based headquarters to ensure alignment on artistic vision, cultural authenticity, and project milestones.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Experience:
  • 5+ years in a Lead Level Artist or similar role, with a proven track record of delivering high-quality levels for AAA titles.
  • 8+ years of overall game development experience is a plus, especially with historical or culturally specific settings.
• Technical Skills:
  • Proficiency in 3D software (e.g., Blender, 3ds Max, ZBrush) and game engines (e.g., Unreal Engine 5, Unity).
  • Strong understanding of level design principles, environmental storytelling, gameplay flow optimization, and asset optimization for performance.
  • Expertise in lighting, color theory, composition, and technical constraints (memory, frame rate).
• Artistic Skills: Exceptional artistic vision with a keen eye for composition, lighting, and color theory, capable of creating immersive, culturally authentic environments that balance realism and gameplay needs.
• Leadership: Proven leadership and mentorship skills, with experience managing teams, providing feedback, and maintaining schedules.
• Collaboration: Strong verbal and written communication skills to work effectively with cross-disciplinary teams and the China-based studio.
• Portfolio: A robust portfolio showcasing diverse, high-quality level designs and environment art, demonstrating expertise in realistic visual styles, environmental storytelling, and composition.
• Cultural Knowledge: Familiarity with Chinese history, culture, or aesthetics is highly desirable.
• Agile Understanding: Strong understanding of Agile methodologies (specifically Scrum) to manage iterative art pipelines and facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Compensation and Benefits

• Salary Range: 140,000 - 190,000
• Insurance coverage and telemedicine from day one.
• Transportation and meal allowance.
• Referral bonus.
• RRSP with employer contribution.
• Flexibility of working remotely or the comfort of the office.

Language Requirements

Proficiency in English is essential for this role, as the employee will be required to communicate regularly with colleagues and stakeholders located outside Quebec, where English is the primary language of communication between offices.