Senior 3D Character Artist - League of Legends

As a Character Artist at Riot, you will bring champions to life by crafting and texturing high and low poly models. You will help build some of the most iconic characters in the world of gaming. Your sculpting skills, artistic eye and understanding of anatomy, form, and color will lead the way in character creation. Working within both technical and design constraints, you will use your knowledge of proportions, anatomy and readability to ensure models are optimized in game. You'll be self-guided and help raise the bar for character art at Riot. You will be a mentor to other character artists and support the upholding and sometimes creation of style guides. Your craft expertise and high-level execution will enrich the player’s immersive experience.

As a Senior Character Artist on League of Legends, you will report to an Art Lead. You'll be a part of a squad working with different disciplines while creating characters that will both surprise and delight players. You will participate in craft review sessions and give/receive feedback on the work.

Responsibilities:

• Create 3D character assets ranging from humanoid to creatures
• Use your strong anatomy knowledge to create bodies and portrait sculpts for champions
• Understand game requirements and champion parameters to create low poly assets that are optimized for deformation and animation
• Interpret concept designs while taking into account technical constraints, such as poly count, custom shader requirements, and texture memory limits
• Utilize your knowledge of Substance Painter and color to generate current gen deliverables towards stylized, painterly PBR assets
• Communicate with various other disciplines to improve pipelines and ensure all assets are performant
• Support documentation of best practices to create onboarding materials and style guides
• Support vendors in providing clear and constructive feedback to proxies, sculpts, and textures.
• Mentor character artists in their craft, uphold style guide principles, and delivering feedback to aid in their growth

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years experience working as a 3D character artist in the video games industry
• Experience working within multiple game production pipelines and game engines like Unreal or Unity
• Experience working with modeling, sculpting, and texturing programs such as Maya/Max, Substance Painter, ZBrush, Photoshop, and 3DCoat
• Knowledge of human anatomy, form, and color theory
• Experience in creating high quality, stylized 3D character art
• Demonstrated ability to create hand painted stylized characters through past professional or personal work samples
• Experience working and communicating with multiple disciplines to find creative solutions and hit production goals

Desired Qualifications:

• Development experience creating materials and PBR assets within modern game engines (Unreal, Unity, etc)
• Familiarity with the League of Legends IP and skins universes
• Experience giving direction and delivering clear, constructive feedback to vendors
• Pre-production development experience
• Passion for games and creating rich player experiences

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role!

Our Perks:

Riot focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

At Riot Games, we put players first . That mission drives every decision in our quest to create games and experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether you’re working directly on a new player-facing experience or you’re supporting the company as a whole, everyone at Riot is part of our mission. And just like in our games, we’re better when we work together. Our goal is to create collaborative teams where you are empowered to bring your unique perspective everyday. If that sounds like the kind of place you want to work, we’re looking forward to your application.

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.

• (Los Angeles Only) Base salary range between $135,700.00 - $188,700.00 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.