Environment Artist / Level Artist (Mid-Senior)

Kaiko; Frankfurt (Oder); Hybrid; EUR 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work setup in Frankfurt,Germany

Health and dental insurance

Flexible working hours

Job summary

Kaiko is seeking an Environment / Level Artist to transform whitebox levels into visually compelling environments. You will assemble levels in-engine, craft environment art with a stylized dark fantasy look, and contribute to lighting and asset pipelines.

You’ll work closely with Level Design, Art Direction, and Narrative to ensure gameplay clarity and artistic vision, in a hybrid setup in Germany.

Qualifications

• Mid to senior level environment art / level art experience in games.
• At least one shipped game in a relevant role.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating stylized environment work.
• Adaptable to any art style and direction while contributing input.

Responsibilities

• Assemble, dress, and light levels in-engine based on whitebox designs.
• Create environment art and set pieces in a stylized dark fantasy style.
• Translate gameplay and narrative requirements into immersive environments.
• Work with real-time lighting to enhance mood and readability.

Skills

Environment art

Level art

Stylized art

Lighting

In-engine level assembly

Team collaboration

English communication

Tools

Blender

ZBrush

Job description

About the Role

As an Environment / Level Artist, you will take whitebox levels from design and transform them into visually compelling, gameplay-supporting environments. Your work will play a key role in shaping the player experience through environment dressing, composition, and lighting.

A core part of your role will be assembling levels in-engine, ensuring that assets, lighting, and composition come together into a cohesive and performant final result.

You will work with our proprietary engine to supplement your level art with high-quality, efficient real-time lighting, making lighting a key pillar of the final player experience.

In addition, you will contribute to asset creation and outsourcing workflows, ensuring visual consistency and quality across both internally and externally produced content.

You will collaborate closely with Level Design, Game Design, Narrative, and Art Direction to ensure that each level not only looks great, but also supports gameplay clarity, storytelling, and the overall artistic vision.

Key Responsibilities

• Assemble, dress, and light levels in-engine based on whitebox layouts provided by design
• Create environment art and set pieces in a stylized dark fantasy art style
• Translate gameplay and narrative requirements into immersive environments
• Work with real-time lighting to enhance mood, readability, and player guidance
• Collaborate closely with Level Design to ensure gameplay flow and clarity
• Work with the Art Director to maintain a consistent visual style across the project
• Create environment assets and props based on concepts or from scratch
• Review and provide feedback on outsourced art assets, ensuring quality and consistency
• Contribute to and help maintain efficient asset creation pipelines
• Iterate quickly while maintaining high visual quality
• Optimize assets and scenes within a proprietary game engine

Requirements

• Mid to Senior level experience in environment art / level art for games
• At least one shipped game in a relevant role
• Strong portfolio demonstrating stylized environment work
• You are adaptable to any art-style and direction but can also bring your input into the world we are shaping
• You are a creative and imaginative artist with a strong eye for visual quality across different media
• Strong 3D modeling and texturing skills, able to work from both concept and from scratch
• Broad knowledge of composition, perspective, color theory, lighting, and materials
• Experience with level assembly in-engine and real-time workflows
• Experience with level dressing, lighting, and composition
• Understanding of modern asset pipelines (modular workflows, optimization, reuse, etc.)
• Ability to work from whitebox/blockout levels
• Solid understanding of how environments support gameplay and player guidance
• Ability to review external work and provide clear, constructive feedback
• Familiarity with modern 3D engines (e.g. Unreal Engine, Unity) and willingness to work with a proprietary engine
• Proficiency in Blender and ZBrush are a must
• You are a collaborative team player, take ownership of your work, and deliver reliably on time
• Strong communication skills in English
• Valid work permit for Germany

Nice to Have

• Experience working on top-down action-adventure games
• Experience with Autodesk tools
• Familiarity with comic-inspired or manga-influenced art styles
• Experience working with outsourcing pipelines or external partners
• Experience collaborating with design and narrative teams
• Familiarity with modular asset workflows and optimization techniques
• Knowledge of player guidance through visual cues

What We Offer

• An exciting position with challenges and opportunities to fully express your creativity
• An energetic and cheerful team
• Extensive room for personal and professional development
• The opportunity to positively influence workflows and contribute to the studios overall success
• A collaborative, cross-disciplinary environment
• Hybrid work setup in Frankfurt, Germany (at least 3 days onsite)
• Full health / dental insurance (as legally required by German state)
• Flexible working time

On KAIKO GmbH

With over 30 years of game development experience, the founders still work hands on in the development of our titles.

We have a friendly work environment, work sane hours and allow everybody to leave their mark in our products.

As a company we always strive for competence and reliability and keep ourselves from corporate bullshit or buzzwording.

In 2021 we joined the THQ Nordic Group to work with their talented people and amazing franchises.