Principal 3D Character Artist for AAA Game | Flexible Hours

Riot Games; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off policy

Medical, dental, and life insurance

Parental leave

401k with company match

Job summary

Riot Games seeks a Principal 3D Character Artist to bring iconic characters and cosmetics to life for a new unpublished AAA title. You’ll work with the Research & Development team and partner with multiple departments to achieve a unique visual style and player‑centred experiences.

You will mentor junior artists and contribute to style guides. Applicants should have a deep knowledge of anatomy, a strong portfolio across character styles, and extensive UE5 experience.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of character modeling experience as a Senior or Principal Artist in the gaming industry.
• Strong experience with modeling, sculpting and texturing in Maya, ZBrush, and Substance Painter.
• Extensive Unreal Engine 5+ experience.
• Deep knowledge of human anatomy, form, and color theory.
• Proactively stay up-to-date with industry trends and new processes.
• Proven ability to set quality bars and provide actionable craft feedback to other artists.
• A portfolio showing a range of character styles and fidelities.
• Experience collaborating across disciplines to solve visual, technical, and production challenges.

Responsibilities

• Produce the look and feel of high fidelity 3D characters and cosmetic assets
• Understand project requirements to influence and create in-game assets that are optimized, performant, and animation friendly
• Interpret and push concept designs to the next level while accounting for technical and design constraints
• Collaborate with various other disciplines to ensure all assets perform and are in line with project vision, style guides, and ready to scale through a cosmetics pipeline
• Document and communicate processes to others and mentor junior members of the team

Skills

Character modeling

Sculpting

Texturing

Anatomy & form

Color theory

Mentorship

Collaboration across disciplines

Tools

Maya

ZBrush

Substance Painter

Unreal Engine 5

Job description

Riot Games seeks a Principal 3D Character Artist to bring iconic characters and cosmetics to life for a new unpublished AAA title. You’ll work with the Research & Development team and partner with multiple departments to achieve a unique visual style and player‑centred experiences.

You will mentor junior artists and contribute to style guides. Applicants should have a deep knowledge of anatomy, a strong portfolio across character styles, and extensive UE5 experience.