Lighting Intern- Undergraduate

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

Job summary

Insomniac Games is seeking a Lighting Artist Intern to contribute to lighting for environments, cinematics, and characters in a AAA game production. You will learn from senior lighting team members, develop technical and artistic skills, and gain hands-on experience with industry rendering techniques.

This internship offers mentorship and the potential to earn an AAA game credit for your resume. You’ll work under guidance to prepare content, refine lighting, and optimize visuals and performance

Qualifications

• Pursuing a BFA in a relevant art field or have 6–12 months of related experience.
• Foundational art skills and understanding of lighting principles.
• Proficiency in lighting and rendering with Maya or Unreal.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills for a creative team.
• Self-motivated learner capable of completing assigned projects.
• Interest in lighting and rendering techniques used in game development.

Responsibilities

• Prepare content and document lighting workflows to support game production.
• Create and refine lighting for environments, cinematics, and characters to AAA quality.
• Polish and optimize existing lighting for visual quality and performance.
• Collaborate with the lighting department to meet project timelines.
• Learn and apply game industry rendering techniques while working with experienced artists.
• Contribute to assigned game development projects and strengthen artistic and technical skills.

Skills

Lighting principles

Maya

Unreal

Communication

Team collaboration

Self-motivation

Education

B.F.A. in Computer Art / Illustration / Game Design or related

Tools

Maya

Unreal

Job description

Join the lighting department at Insomniac Games and gain hands‑on experience contributing to a large-scale AAA video game production. As a Lighting Artist Intern, you'll work alongside experienced artists to create and improve lighting for environments, cinematics, and characters. You'll help bring game worlds to life through lighting and rendering while learning the techniques and workflows used in professional game development. Throughout the internship, you'll receive mentorship from senior lighting team members, develop your technical and artistic skills, and contribute to a game production. You'll also have the opportunity to earn an AAA game credit for your resume.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Prepare content and document lighting workflows to support game production.
• Create and refine lighting for environments, cinematics, and characters to meet AAA quality standards.
• Polish and optimize existing lighting to improve visual quality and performance.
• Collaborate with the lighting department to deliver polished content within established project timelines.
• Learn and apply game industry rendering techniques and workflows while working alongside experienced lighting artists.
• Contribute to assigned game development projects while strengthening your artistic, technical, and collaborative skills.

What We’re Looking For:

• Currently pursuing a B.F.A. in Computer Art, Illustration, Game Design, Product Design, or have six to twelve months of related experience and/or training.
• Strong foundational art skills and an understanding of lighting principles.
• Proficiency in lighting and rendering using Maya or other similar game engine packages such as Unreal.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a creative team environment.
• A self‑motivated, responsible approach to learning and completing assigned projects.
• Passion for video games and art, with an interest in lighting and rendering techniques used in game development.
• 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.

Voluntary Self-Identification

Our vision at PlayStation is to bring out the best in our global team members by creating a sense of belonging, being a place where they can grow, and ensuring everyone feels valued, heard, and supported so we can push the boundaries of play. That vision begins our candidates, and we are working to better understand the diversity of our candidate population.
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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.
• Armed Forces Service Medal Veteran: a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, participated in a U.S. military operation for which an Armed Forces Service Medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

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