Character Artist (Game Development)

Location: On-site in Santa Monica, California, United States.

Salary: $85,000–$135,000 USD annual base pay, with possible annual bonus and other incentive plans.

Company

Naughty Dog is a game development studio creating narrative-driven, critically acclaimed AAA games, including The Last of Us and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

What you will do

• Sculpt and model outfits, people, and animals for realistic game worlds.
• Create clothing textures with wear, color fades, tears, grime, damage, and dirt that give assets a lived-in backstory.
• Create natural skin textures with color variations, veins, discoloration, imperfections, and subsurface scattering.
• Conduct retopology and create efficient UV layouts.
• Create hair cards and fur, and set up shaders.
• Collaborate with concept art, shading, and rigging departments to develop a high-quality production pipeline.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in any field or a foreign equivalent degree.
• At least two years of experience as a character artist or in a related occupation.
• Experience working on AAA titles as a character artist.
• Knowledge of clothing folds and human anatomy.
• Understanding of the game production pipeline.
• Ability to create clothing assets that feel lived in through texturing, including color fades, tears, and grime.
• Ability to make skin feel natural through color variations showing veins, discoloration, and imperfections.
• Proficiency with ZBrush, Autodesk Maya, Substance Painter, and Photoshop.

Culture & Benefits

• Work in an on-site studio environment in Santa Monica, California.
• Potential eligibility for annual bonuses and other incentive plans.
• Background checks are conducted at the offer stage for new employees.