Principal Materials Artist - Unannounced Game | Irvine, CA

Responsibilities :

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities :

Use bleeding edge techniques to create and integrate a variety of material work for natural environments, architecture, and characters.

Maintain PBR authoring standards, conveying those guidelines to the team around you.

Coordinating with art leads, design, and production to help plan and accomplish the strategic goals of the material team.

Be an active participant in team discussions, critiques, and reviews to ensure timely completion of material work on style and at the desired quality bar.

Set the standards and best practices for the material team to ensure texture libraries are organized, optimal and efficient.

Remain current on industry trends including advancement in commercial game engines and workflow efficiencies.

Partner with other artists, designers, and engineers. We build our games collaboratively.

Minimum Requirements :

Experience

15 years of experience.

Proven experience having shipped multiple AAA titles in a relevant role.

Knowledge & Skills

Demonstrable experience through all phases of AAA game development - from concepting, pre-production, production, to optimization and closing.

Expert level Substance Designer and Painter knowledge.

Proven experience working through early development R&D phases on a project.

Both high- and low-level understanding of lighting and its relationship to materials.

Expert understanding of Material creation in industry-standard workflows and bleeding edge techniques.

Experience solving complex pipeline problems and collaborating with engineers and tech artists.

A team-oriented approach to your work, understanding the importance of collaboration, and partnering with all departments.

Experience working with AAA game engines with a strong understanding of implementation and integration into the pipeline.

Self-motivated and detail conscious approach to work.

Extra Points

You have a passion for photography or reference gathering.

You consume a ton of games, movies, animation, or other creative things.

Solid understanding of game art creation outside of material work (e.g. Concept, Lighting, 3D Art, Rendering).

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. ( a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ : MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industrys most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush and Bubble Witch. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for Every World - weve got our employees covered!

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! 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 . General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.

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.

Rewards We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for Every World - weve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including :

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 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.