Senior Materials Artist II | STARCRAFT | Irvine, CA

BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC.; Irvine (CA); Hybrid; USD 99,000 - 184,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k) with Company match

Paid holidays and vacation

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. seeks a Senior Materials Artist II to define the material pipeline for STARCRAFT in Irvine, crafting materials for environments, characters and props and upholding strict visual quality across assets.

You will mentor artists, set standards, collaborate with engineers and art leads, and advance PBR workflows using Substance tools and Unreal Engine in a hybrid Irvine studio.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in materials, textures, surfacing or related game art discipline.
• Shipping multiple AAA games in senior/principal materials roles.
• Expert with Substance 3D Designer and Painter portfolio.
• Strong understanding of PBR, lighting, texture creation and optimization.
• Experience with Unreal Engine and cross‑discipline collaboration.
• Independent discipline expert with leadership without formal people management.

Responsibilities

• Create and integrate high‑quality materials for environments, architecture, characters and props.
• Define and maintain PBR standards, material guidelines, and quality benchmarks.
• Develop scalable material pipelines, tools and workflows with engineers and artists.
• Lead material reviews, set priorities, and ensure visuals meet direction and performance.
• Mentor artists and share best practices to raise material quality.

Skills

Physically Based Rendering

Texture authoring

Unreal Engine

Leadership

Communication

Tools

Substance 3D Designer

Substance 3D Painter

Job description

Team Name: Unannounced Project

Job Title: Senior Materials Artist II | STARCRAFT | Irvine, CA

Requisition ID: R028243

Job Description

Blizzard Entertainment is assembling a team to build the next chapter of STARCRAFT, returning to a universe forged in interstellar war. This mission offers something new: crafting an original story-driven, open-world shooter while honoring the legacy of one of Blizzard's most beloved games. We are here to reignite this universe alongside you. We are here to make STARCRAFT, and it's about damn time. We are looking for a Senior Materials Artist II to help craft this new game for Blizzard. As a key member of the development team, you will define and advance the material pipeline, material library, and visual quality standards used across character and environment assets. You are comfortable operating in a dynamic environment, navigating fluid deadlines and changing priorities with purpose. This role offers a hybrid work week, with a mix of work-from-home and on-site days, based out of our Irvine studio.

Responsibilities

• Create and integrate high-quality materials for natural environments, architecture, characters, and props.
• Define and maintain physically based rendering standards, material authoring guidelines, and quality benchmarks across the game.
• Develop and evolve scalable material pipelines, libraries, tools, and workflows in partnership with technical artists and engineers.
• Solve complex artistic and technical material challenges across production, optimization, and final implementation.
• Partner with art directors, art leads, designers, engineers, and production partners to establish priorities and achieve game goals.
• Lead material reviews, critiques, and technical evaluations to ensure work meets the established visual direction, performance requirements, and quality bar.
• Establish best practices for organized, reusable, efficient, and performant texture and material libraries.
• Mentor artists through documentation, demonstrations, feedback, and hands-on support that strengthens material craft across the team.
• Evaluate emerging tools and techniques and apply relevant advancements to improve visual quality and development efficiency.
• Champion collaboration, inclusive development practices, and a player-focused approach to visual quality.

Minimum Requirements

• 12+ years of applicable professional experience in materials, textures, surfacing, or a related game art discipline.
• Demonstrated experience shipping multiple AAA games in a senior or principal materials, texture, surfacing, or related art role.
• Expert knowledge of Substance 3D Designer and Substance 3D Painter, with a portfolio demonstrating advanced material authoring and implementation.
• Expert understanding of physically based rendering, lighting and material interaction, texture creation, optimization, and industry-standard material workflows.
• Experience contributing through multiple phases of AAA game development, including early research and development, pre-production, production, optimization, and final delivery.
• Experience solving complex pipeline and implementation challenges in partnership with engineers and technical artists using a modern AAA game engine such as Unreal Engine.
• Proven ability to act independently as a discipline expert, establish standards, and provide leadership across work groups without relying on formal people-management authority.
• Strong communication, collaboration, mentorship, ownership, and accountability, with the ability to align creative and technical partners around complex goals.

Extra Points

• Experience building or maintaining shared material libraries across character and environment teams.
• Experience developing tools, templates, or procedural workflows that improve material quality and production efficiency.
• Experience with photography, scanning, photogrammetry, or structured reference-gathering workflows.
• Broad understanding of adjacent game art disciplines, including concept art, lighting, 3D art, shaders, and rendering.
• Experience supporting art outsourcing partners or external development teams.

Your Platform Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft.

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $99,200.00 - $183,520.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry.

We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to [e-mail].

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.

Blizzard Entertainment is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software. After establishing the Blizzard Entertainment label in 1994, the company quickly became one of the most popular and well-respected makers of computer games. By focusing on creating well-designed, highly enjoyable entertainment experiences, Blizzard Entertainment has maintained an unparalleled reputation for quality since its inception.