Technical VFX Artist

The Artistocrats; Limburg; On-site; EUR 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fair remuneration

Creative ownership of VFX pipeline

On-site studio in Hasselt

Job summary

The Artistocrats, based in Hasselt, Belgium, seeks a Technical VFX Artist (Unity / C#) to own our real-time VFX pipeline. You will create performant in-engine effects, from assets to final logic, with potential contributions to modeling and texturing as needed.

Join a small, ambitious team delivering ambitious titles, including DLC for Starship Troopers: Terran Command. Expect ownership, creative latitude, and on-site collaboration in a growing studio.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of professional experience creating real-time VFX within the Unity engine (URP/HDRP).
• Strong understanding of node-based shader tools, HLSL/Cg, geometry meshes, texture generation, and UV manipulation for VFX.
• Professional proficiency in English or Dutch (spoken and written).
• Ability to work full-time on-site at Hasselt studio.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with game designers and programmers to hook up VFX to gameplay events efficiently.
• Design and implement real-time VFX (environmental elements, combat feedback, UI effects) directly in Unity.
• Generate visual components for effects, including textures, flipbooks, sprite sheets, and custom meshes.
• Build custom shaders using Unity Shader Graph and HLSL to realize visual concepts.
• Work with Visual Effect Graph and Shuriken to create scalable, modular effects.
• Profile and optimize VFX using Unity Profiler and Frame Debugger for best performance.

Skills

English or Dutch

Artistic eye

Unity real-time VFX

Node-based shaders

HLSL/Cg

URP/HDRP

Shader Graph

Shuriken/Particle System

Optimization techniques

Tools

Unity

Shader Graph

HLSL

Cg

URP/HDRP

Visual Effect Graph

Shuriken

Job description

Job description:

Technical VFX Artist (Unity / C#)

Based in Hasselt, The Artistocrats is an established independent game studio dedicated to the creation of our own original titles. We are currently expanding our team to tackle more ambitious projects, including new DLC for our RTS game, Starship Troopers: Terran Command, and upcoming unannounced titles.

As a Technical VFX Artist, you will be the primary driver behind our game’s visual feedback, environmental ambiance, and combat polish—creating stunning, highly performant real-time effects in Unity without blowing up our frame budgets.

Because we are a small team, you will have complete ownership of the VFX pipeline, from generating the foundational 2D and 3D assets to implementing the final logic in-engine.

While your primary focus will be the VFX pipeline, you may also contribute to related 3D tasks such as modeling or texturing, should you possess these skills.

What you will do

• Collaborate with game designers and programmers to hook up VFX to gameplay events efficiently.
• Design and implement real-time VFX (environmental elements, combat feedback, UI effects) directly in Unity.
• Generate the visual components needed for your effects, including bespoke textures, flipbooks, sprite sheets, and custom meshes.
• Build custom shaders using Unity Shader Graph and HLSL to bring our visual vision to life.
• Work with Visual Effect Graph and the built-in Particle System (Shuriken) to create scalable, modular effects.
• Profile and optimize VFX using Unity Profiler and Frame Debugger to assure an optimal performance.

What we are looking for

Must-haves

• Professional proficiency in English or Dutch (spoken and written)
• Ability to work full-time on-site at our Hasselt studio
• A solid artistic eye for timing, scale, color theory, and motion in real-time game environments.
• 2+ years of professional experience creating real-time VFX within the Unity engine (URP/HDRP).
• Strong understanding of node-based shader tools, HLSL/Cg, geometry meshes, texture generation, and UV manipulation for VFX.
• Knowledge of optimization techniques specifically related to particles, shaders, and rendering pipelines.

Nice-to-haves

• Professional fluency in Dutch (spoken and written)
• Basic C# scripting knowledge to wire up and trigger your own effects.
• Experience using Houdini, Substance Designer, or Blender for simulation baking and texture generation.
• General 3D artist skills such as modeling (Blender) and texturing (Substance Painter)

What We offer

• Full-time role in an established studio focused on making (strategy) games.
• Fair remuneration based on market standards.
• A varied job with plenty of responsibility and creativity within our growing team.