Character Artist Intern- Undergraduate

Insomniac Games; Burbank (CA); On-site; USD 41,000 - 59,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Mentorship

Job summary

Insomniac Games in Burbank, CA is seeking a Character Art Intern to gain hands-on experience creating characters and props for our games. You will work with senior artists on models, textures, UVs, and blendshapes.

This 12-week program offers mentorship, relocation assistance, and exposure to Maya, Substance Painter, and game production workflows. Open to students pursuing a Bachelor’s in Character Art with 6–12 months of related training.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Character Art.
• Six to twelve months of related experience or training is beneficial but not required for students.
• Interest in character modeling, texturing, and game development.

Responsibilities

• Create and refine 3D models and textures for characters and props used in game development.
• Develop corrective blendshapes for characters and props to support animation.
• Create efficient UV layouts using Maya or equivalent software.
• Author textures and materials in Substance Painter to support character and prop development.
• Collaborate with the Character Art and Animation team to develop and refine assets.

Skills

Python

Maya

Character art

Education

Bachelor's degree in Character Art

Tools

Maya

Substance Painter

Job description

Join the Animation Department at Insomniac Games and gain hands-on experience creating characters and props that contribute to game development.

As a Character Art Intern, you'll work alongside experienced artists to create models, textures, and corrective blendshapes for characters and props. You'll gain practical experience with character modeling, UV layouts, and material creation while learning how these elements support animation and game production.

Throughout the internship, you’ll receive mentorship from senior members of the Character Art and Animation team, develop your artistic and technical skills, and contribute to projects in a collaborative game development environment.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Create and refine 3D models and textures for characters and props used in game development.
• Develop corrective blendshapes for characters and props to support animation.
• Create efficient UV layouts using Maya or equivalent software.
• Author textures and materials in Substance Painter to support character and prop development.
• Collaborate with the Character Art and Animation team to develop and refine assets while learning game production techniques and workflows.
• Gain hands-on experience with character art development while strengthening your modeling, texturing, and technical skills through mentorship from experienced artists.

What We’re Looking For:

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree working towards Character Art.
• Six to twelve months of related experience and/or training is beneficial but not required for currently enrolled students.
• A creative, self-motivated, and responsible approach to learning and completing assigned work.
• Passion for video games and animation, with an interest in character modeling, texturing, and game development.
• Python skills and previous experience with Maya are preferred.
• Students with expected graduation between May 2026 and December 2029 from an accredited university. Undergraduate
• Able to work during one of the following periods: May 17th - August 6th or June 14th - September 3rd. Relocation assistance is available for eligible candidates.
• Must be available for the entire 12-week internship period.

At this time, SIE will only consider applicants who are authorized to work for any employer in the United States and who will not require work visa sponsorship from SIE now or in the future to maintain their authorization to work in the United States.

Our intern positions offer a fixed hourly pay rate. Please note that the pay rate is exclusive to the internship period and may not reflect what pay may look like following the completion of an internship.

At SIE, we consider several factors when setting each role’s base pay range, including the competitive benchmarking data for the market and geographic location.
Please note that the base pay range may vary in line with our hybrid working policy and individual base pay will be determined based on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location.

Intern Pay Range

$36.50 - $36.50 USD

Please note, Sony Interactive Entertainment conducts background checks at the offer stage for all new employees (which may include criminal background checks for some roles) and will need to process personal information to support these checks.

Please refer to our Candidate Privacy Notice for more information about what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and your data protection rights.

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Voluntary Self-Identification

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Protected Veteran

• Disabled Veteran: a veteran of the U.S. military who is entitled to compensation (or who would be entitled to compensation if not for the receipt of military retired pay) under the administration of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and/or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.
• Recently Separated Veteran: a veteran who has discharged or released from active duty in the U.S. military within the last three years.
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Disability

Under U.S. law, you are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition.

Identifying yourself as an individual with a disability is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer will be maintained confidentially and will not be seen by selecting officials or anyone else involved in making personnel decisions, nor will it be shared with our accommodations team . Completing the form will not negatively impact you in any way, regardless of whether you have self-identified in the past.

The application deadline for this role is November 21, 2026