Character Artist

Digital Extremes
London, ON, Canada
Job type: Permanent

View all Digital Extremes jobs

Job Description

ABOUT THIS POSITION

Digital Extremes is seeking a Characters Artist to join our team. You will be joining a small team working on a demanding art project. You will be challenged to explore your creative and technical skills in an ever learning and changing environment. We are always evolving our work practices through technical updates and workflow techniques. With your excellent communication skills and understanding of efficient techniques for game production, traditional art background and experiences and a strong understanding of what it takes to create believable high quality looking humanoids and creatures you'll fit right in!

RESPONSIBILITIES 

  • Realize the overall artistic vision of characters based on designs, concepts and descriptions
  • Design, model, and texture high quality 3D characters, paying close attention to anatomical proportions, physiology and overall geometry to work well with rigging and skin deformation
  • Collaborate with Art and Design leads to create technically sound, engaging and memorable characters
  • Work with Art Director and project Character Art Lead to combine ideas and methodologies of character production to create an efficient, streamlined pipeline
  • Multitask effectively, prioritize competing demands, and follow through on details  

REQUIREMENTS 

  • 2+ years of experience creating characters for game development
  • Knowledge of skinning\rigging constraints and optimization
  • Ability to change art direction and iterate across projects with a variety of art styles
  • An exceptional understanding of human and creature anatomy with a keen eye towards form, structure, and silhouette and overall appeal
  • Ability to commit to and deliver finished assets with tight deadlines
  • Professional experience with today's standards of software relating to character creation for triple A games (i.e., Maya or Max, Zbrush, Substance painter and Designer etc.)
  • Exemplary oral and written communication skills
  • Willingness and aptitude to learn new techniques and best practices
  • Have a genuine enthusiasm and interest in video games 

PREFERRED EXTRAS  

  • Familiar with Warframe and Digital Extreme's development history
  • Previous experience working with a popular game engine i.e., Unreal or Unity

ABOUT DIGITAL EXTREMES 

Founded in 1993 by James Schmalz, Digital Extremes ranks as one of the world's top independent video game development studios. Originating with the co-creation of Epic Games' multi-million unit selling Unreal® franchise including Unreal and Unreal Tournament, Digital Extremes went on to develop Dark Sector®, BioShock® for the PlayStation®3, the BioShock 2 multiplayer campaign, and The Darkness® II. The studio has reached its greatest critical and commercial success with the free-to-play action game, Warframe®, boasting a global community of 50 million registered players on PC, PS4™, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch™. For more information about Digital Extremes, visit www.digitalextremes.com. To sign up for Warframe, visit www.warframe.com.

WHY WORK AT DIGITAL EXTREMES

Our culture is centered on providing great opportunities to our employees so that everyone feels they are making a meaningful impact. Developing new and existing talent is our long-term focus. We are honored that our work environment has been consistently recognized as one of “Canada’s Top 100 Employers”. We summon you to join our elite team!

The rewards of a career with Digital Extremes include:

  • Competitive salary with bonus opportunities
  • Excellent benefits and paid time off
  • Matching RRSP plan
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
  • Professional development and career support
  • Fitness and parking/transit subsidies
  • Daily lunches prepared onsite by our in-studio Executive Chef and professional kitchen staff
  • All-day snacks and drinks, sleep pods, massage chairs, cold brew, dog therapy days and more

JOIN US

Digital Extremes is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the recruitment process. We thank you for your interest, however, only those candidates selected for the next steps in the hiring process will be contacted.

Skills & Requirements

REQUIREMENTS 

  • 2+ years of experience creating characters for game development
  • Knowledge of skinning\rigging constraints and optimization
  • Ability to change art direction and iterate across projects with a variety of art styles
  • An exceptional understanding of human and creature anatomy with a keen eye towards form, structure, and silhouette and overall appeal
  • Ability to commit to and deliver finished assets with tight deadlines
  • Professional experience with today's standards of software relating to character creation for triple A games (i.e., Maya or Max, Zbrush, Substance painter and Designer etc.)
  • Exemplary oral and written communication skills
  • Willingness and aptitude to learn new techniques and best practices
  • Have a genuine enthusiasm and interest in video games 

PREFERRED EXTRAS  

  • Familiar with Warframe and Digital Extreme's development history
  • Previous experience working with a popular game engine i.e., Unreal or Unity

Additional Information

  • Working remotely is an option
  • Relocation assistance is offered

How to Apply

Please apply for this opportunity directly through our website: https://can59.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePortal/en-US/digitalextremes/Site/DEAPPLY/Posting/View/36

About the Company

Founded by James Schmalz in 1993, Digital Extremes leapt from early shareware hit Epic Pinball to the innovative Unreal Series (co-created with Epic Games) to the massive free-to-play success of Warframe. Leading with community-first development, Digital Extremes has stayed at the forefront of the video game industry for more than 25 years. With more than 300 staff across two offices in Canada and the U.S., Digital Extremes’ diverse team brings innovation, imagination and passion to its studio culture. We foster a creative environment promoting a strong work ethic and project ownership, whether it’s inter-departmental collaboration or external support for local community. We’re proud our studio culture is dedicated to building career growth opportunities for both new employees and long-time staff members who remain active and integral to our core projects. The larger of Digital Extremes’ two offices, our London, Ontario studio is the heart of our creative operations. From game and graphic design to sound and motion capture work, our brilliant development team works hand-in-hand with our active community and publishing teams to bring incredible ideas to life. Our growing satellite office in Irvine, California helps drive the company’s award-winning marketing, public relations, advertising, and independent publishing arm for internally and externally published games.