Senior 3D Asset Artist, Weapons - VALORANT

As a 3D Weapon Artist at Riot you will bring weapons and skins to life. Drawing inspiration from as little as a napkin sketch or as much as a full-blown narrative concept, you will create ideas and craft designs that are resonant, compelling, and iconic. As a member of the team, you will help your fellow team members to continue to raise the quality bar at the studio.

VALORANT is Riot's take on a character-based tactical shooter (for more info on VALORANT click here!). As a 3D Weapon Artist on the VALORANT team, you will create new 3D assets for Riot's brand new title. You will keep the players' experience in mind as you work with diverse teams to help build foundational ideas and concepts for VALORANT's upcoming 3D content. You will also work with designers, writers, and producers to bring new worlds to life. You will also report to the Concept Art Lead.

Responsibilities:

• Create and ensure all 3D assets meet constraints and requirements of the game's needs
• Provide art outsource feedback and spec definition up to 25-30% of allocated time, through syncs with Outsource Managers, written feedback, demos, and remote calls
• Work with other artists in multiple sub-disciplines
• Experience specifically with creating weapon assets for first person shooters with an eye for how 3d concepts might translate through a first person camera.
• Model a number of inorganic (forged metal/stamped metal) and organic surfaces (wood, cloth wraps, leather)
• Interpret and follow a 2d concept or work from an existing rough model concept and carry it through an entire art pipeline (high poly, low poly, unwrap, bake,texture, integrate into engine)

Required Qualifications:

• 3 years of professional experience modeling and texturing weapons for first-person shooters
• Professional experience working with Maya and Substance Painter
• Strong ability to create stylized textures
• Experience working with mechanical functions for hard surface models
• Experience working with next gen asset creation pipelines and tools
• Artistically interpret concepts or creatively push beyond an initial ideation
• Experience working and working with developers in multiple disciplines
• Experience working within a team environment under a manager and assisting fellow artists with craft talent and/or art feedback.
• Experience working in Substance Painter or similar PBR texture workflow.
• Ability to deliver art assets within a deadline and ability to self regulate pacing of your work to do so.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience working with Unreal 4 engine
• Experience working in one or more related disciplines - animation, technical art, visual effects, concept design
• Experience shipping a AAA title as a 3D artist, specializing in weapons
• Experience working in some form of stylized art assets
• Ability to diagnose what makes for an aesthetically pleasing weapon asset in a first person setting.
• Soft people skills necessary to interact with team members and deliver critical feedback.
• Ability to over communicate progress and feedback to team members via in person/virtual meetings or SLACK.
• Ability to work with hand-painted textures
• Experience in Blender

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 the experiences of players, this could be the role for you!

Our Perks:

Riot has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to 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.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming.

(Bellevue only) Base salary range between $123,000 USD - $171,000 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

(Los Angeles only) Base salary range between $123,000 USD - $171,000 USD + incentive compensation + equity + 401K with company match + medical, dental, vision, and life insurance + short and long-term disability + open PTO.

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, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history.