Lead Character Artist

Playground Games Limited; Royal Leamington Spa; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a premier Xbox Game Studio as a Lead Character Artist, where you'll guide a talented team in creating stunning character art for the acclaimed Forza Horizon franchise. This role offers a unique opportunity to blend creativity with technical expertise, overseeing the production of high-quality character assets and collaborating closely with various departments. Enjoy a hybrid work model while contributing to a diverse and inclusive environment that values innovation and creativity. If you're passionate about video games and have a strong background in character art, this is the perfect chance to make your mark in the gaming industry.

Benefits

Relocation Assistance

Inclusive Work Environment

Career Progression Opportunities

Well-being Support

Qualifications

• Lead the Character Art team, ensuring high-quality output and effective communication.
• Strong understanding of human anatomy and character production workflows.

Responsibilities

• Oversee tasks and bugs of the Character Art team, ensuring smooth workflow.
• Mentor team members and provide feedback for skill development.

Skills

3DSMax

Maya

Substance Painter

ZBrush

Marvelous Designer

Wrap3D

Character Production Workflows

Human Anatomy Knowledge

Communication Skills

Team Management

Education

Experience on AAA Game Project

Portfolio of Real-Time Character Artwork

Tools

3DSMax

Maya

Substance Painter

ZBrush

Marvelous Designer

Job description

Playground Games is looking for a Lead Character Artist to join our talented Forza Horizon team here in Leamington Spa on a permanent basis.

About us:

As a premier first-party Xbox Game Studio, we are passionate about making genre-defining games that are accessible, beautiful, and most of all fun. We are looking to expand our diverse team as we continue driving forward our BAFTA award-winning Forza Horizon franchise.

About the role:

As Lead Character Artist you’ll oversee the Character Art team, working in conjunction with the Art Director and Art Manager to plan work for the team and ensure our high-quality bar is realised. You will be expected to steer your team in creating clean and functional topology, high quality materials and optimise content for game, being comfortable leading communications with technical departments.

Our ideal candidate is familiar with industry standard software packages such as 3DSMax or Maya and have extensive experience with Brush and Substance Painter. They would have exceptional knowledge of human anatomy and possess a great understanding of best practices to suit animation needs and engine requirements.

This is a permanent role based at our state-of-the-art facilities in Royal Leamington Spa. We have a hybrid work model in place with a minimum of 3 days a week in studio. Relocation assistance is available if required.

What you’ll do:

• Be responsible for the tasks and bugs of the Character Art team, and work with other stakeholders to help define and prioritise them
• Develop the skills and talent of the Character Art team, carrying performance reviews and owning line management duties
• Mentor and provide feedback to the team and our outsource partners
• Creation of realistic sculpting, retopology and texturing, as well as assets briefs for body, face, hair and garments
• Integration of character assets in engine, troubleshoot rendering and shader issues and balance textures
• Collaborate closely with the Character, Tech Animation, Animation, Tech Art and Tech Teams to define pipelines and workflows whilst maintaining their documentation
• Insure that the communication between the Character team and other stakeholders is smooth and efficient

What you’ll bring:

• An interest in modern fashion
• Experience on at least one shipped AAA game project
• Strong understanding and demonstration of human anatomy and proportions
• A self-motivated team player attitude with good communication skills
• Portfolio demonstrating real time character artwork to very high standard
• A genuine passion for video games
• Proficiency in 3DSMax, Maya, Marvelous Designer, ZBrush, Wrap3D and Substance Painter
• Established character production workflows such as creating clean deformable topology, efficient UV mapping and baking, texturing, and cloth creation techniques
• A good understanding of technical considerations for character creation, with the ability to communicate with technical team members

This is a fantastic opportunity to make world-class games with an established, talented, and collaborative team at one of the industry’s most exciting first-party game studios.

Playground Games is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity and inclusion fuels creativity. We are dedicated to creating a safe, comfortable and welcoming working environment.

We strive to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices of our team members. It drives our innovation and connects us closer to our players. We are committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion across age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

At Playground Games we recognise the importance of self-development, career progression, well-being and retention of our colleagues. We celebrate difference and welcome everyone to join us and to be themselves at work.

If you require any reasonable accommodation to apply for this position, please contact us on [e-mail]