Senior 3D Environment Artist

Who We Are:

Founded by an MMO legend who has led AAA teams for over 20 years, our new studio Fantastic Pixel Castle (FPC) is building an original fantasy IP from scratch. Players will be regularly engaged in our development process from early stages as part of our open and transparent studio culture, and we aim to craft an IP that will be worthy of their passion and dedication for decades to come. 

We are committed to being a fully remote and global studio, so that we can hire world-class people and have them live their best lives. We think top-heavy bureaucracy stifles creativity, so we aim to stay small as we focus on delivering a game and a world that players will love. We are fully-funded, and the team will share in all of our studio's successes. We're seeking talented teammates to join us in our journey so we encourage you to apply if you're interested, even if you're not sure you check all the boxes.

Position Overview:

As the Senior 3D Artist-Worlds & Environments, you will be tasked with bringing our worlds and environments to life in our new game. You will play a crucial role in shaping our game’s aesthetic, as well as creating immersive and captivating worlds and 3d environment assets for our game that leverages Unreal Engine 5. We are not just looking for an artist; we need a collaborative game developer who can contribute innovative ideas, engage in prototyping, drive our project from the conceptual stage through implementation, and bring our unique and compelling world to life.

Responsibilities:

• You are an extraordinary Environment/ World Artist with a portfolio which reflects proven game development experience, and your portfolio reflects your experience and love for creating new worlds.
• You specialize in appealing Hand-Crafted Environment Art which is beautiful, practical, and performant.
• You are well-versed in modern tools and techniques for creating modular, optimized game-ready content.
• Work alongside Art, Engineering, and Design to evolve areas of development and create prototype assets to help facilitate cross department work as needed.
• Help create, and evolve, the look of our in-game worlds through Prototype and the live version of the game.
• Build final assets ranging from foliage, tiling materials, and terrain geometry to architecture and hero props.
• Implement game-ready assets in UE5 while being mindful of performance.
• Create vignettes to demonstrate proper asset use cases for internal and external developers.
• Provide feedback to External Development as needed. This role will provide feedback to External Development, but External Development is not the focus of the job.

Requirements:

• A bachelor's degree (or equivalent certificate) in Art, Graphic Design, Game Design, or a related field.
• Minimum of 6 years experience in a 3d Artist role within a game studio that includes, but not limited to, workflows for high and low poly modeling, texture painting, PBR material setup, mapping techniques, UV layout,  tools, lighting, and optimizations.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating exceptional skills in environment and level creation and a deep understanding of composition, shape & form, architecture, lighting, exterior environment design.
• Proficiency in using Unreal Engine 4+ for rapid prototyping.
• Proficiency in using Substance Tools (Designer & Painter) and PBR workflows.
• Proficiency with industry-standard 3D software, Zbrush and Maya (or other 3D modeling tools).
• Basic level lighting skills.
• An understanding of the impact of Environment Art on Level Design.
• Excellent communication skills, with a proven ability to articulate design concepts and rationales to other team members and stakeholders.
• Capability for self-directed work and taking a brief prompt and/or idea and pushing the visual boundaries to create something inspiring.
• Work well on a highly collaborative team, providing constructive feedback to help steer the efforts of developers in and outside the Art department.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working on AAA titles (Previous work on an MMO is a big plus).
• Strong understanding and practical experience with next-generation asset creation workflows.
• Proficiency with industry-standard software, including Photoshop, Houdini and/or other procedural tooling skills.
• Proficiency with advanced in-game lighting skills.
• Ability to create environment VFX
• Passion for gaming (especially MMOs), with an awareness of current industry trends and an understanding of player expectations.
• Exceptional problem-solving skills, able to adapt quickly to new technologies, workflows, and ideas.

US Salary Range: $75,000 - 165,000 USD