Hard Surface Artist (Apex Legends)

We’re looking for a Hard Surface Artist who is passionate about modeling everything hard surface – vehicles, weapons, props, etc. As a Hard Surface Artist with our team you will leverage your in-depth knowledge of and interest in how mechanical things work and your passion for functionality. You will bring your flair for elegant texturing to the table – you think carefully about how a hard surface prop is utilized and where to place wear and scratches at just the right amount. You will work closely with other developers to ensure your assets are designed well both artistically and for gameplay.

What’s it like to be a Hard Surface Artist at Respawn?

- Day to Day - As a Hard Surface Artist you will model and texture high quality, visually appealing 3D hard surface assets for use in game. You will own your work from start to finish, while also collaborating with other artists, designers, and leads to ensure the work fits into the vision for art direction and ultimate gameplay goals.

- Teamwork -  As a member of the hard surface art team, you will work closely with others within your department as well as other disciplines within the team. You will work very closely with concept artists, game designers, riggers, and animators to design and execute on compelling artwork, high quality animations, and satisfying gameplay. Making games is a team effort, and you will work together with other talented team members to create what works best for the game.

- Values - Our art team cares about developing both high quality art and a high quality player experience. They share their inspiration, knowledge, and passion with the others in their department. They aspire to treat everything they work on as a personal masterpiece. They seek to raise the bar of what “great” looks like. They play the game and are encouraged to speak up if they see anything that is not up to our high standards. They put their time and passion into what will have the biggest payoff both visually and for our players.

- Ownership - Our teams are small and everyone has a lot of ownership over their work. As a Hard Surface Artist you will have the opportunity to own your work from start to completion - modeling, texturing, and even concepting as appropriate. You will have the opportunity to use your taste and judgement to shape how your assets look and feel, how they tell stories, and how they enhance the player’s experience. As part of a small team you will have the opportunity to shine here.

- Growth - At Respawn we believe that all of our team members are on a path of professional development, and making progress in that journey is a key component of happiness and satisfaction in one’s work.  Our team members are encouraged to follow their career interests, while also challenging themselves. To facilitate this, our leads work with each team member to identify areas of strength, and areas of desired development, and whenever possible, assign tasks and projects which will inspire the team member to grow in skill, knowledge, and capability.

What do we look for in Hard Surface Artist candidates?

- You’ve Made Stuff You are Proud Of - We are excited to see your artistic passion, creativity, attention to detail, and keen eye for quality shine in your artwork. What we’d love to see in your portfolio is work that you developed yourself from start to finish - highly detailed 3D art with a focus on hard surface and variety of subject matter and surface properties (props, weapons, vehicles, etc.) Your portfolio ideally shows quality, taste, and ability to hit a believable look. We’d love to see work that you designed yourself as well as work that showcases your ability to capture the likeness of existing concept art. Most of all, we are looking forward to seeing the work that you feel are examples of your best.

- Beyond Art - You Are A Game Developer - As an artist you bring the passion and skill for creating amazing artwork, but you also have an understanding of game development practices that help make sure your work helps enhances the players’ gameplay experience - how weapons feel to use, how vehicles inspire, how props help tell a story. You understand the greater goals of an incredible gameplay experience and how to work well with designers and animators to ensure that weapons play well, animate well, and look good. You will also make sure that your art assets are performant and fit into memory budgets.

- Passion - We look for Hard Surface Artists who are highly passionate. Our art team is constantly sharing knowledge and working to raise the quality bar. No one is phoning it in here – our team members love what they do and it shows in their work.

- Potential Over Experience - We value talent over years of experience. Experience counts, but potential is important too. We look for talented, highly motivated people who have a knack for hands on artistry, but who also balance their drive to make cool stuff with the understanding of what is highest priority for the players’ experience.

- A Spirit for Collaboration - Positivity and a great attitude help to fuel greatness. The ability to accept feedback and critiques will help you tailor your work towards what’s best for the game. Making games is a group effort and you will collaborate closely with other departments. Teamwork is very important to our success.

Ideally, you also will have...

2+ years’ experience as a 3D Artist.

Mastery of relevant software packages such as Maya, Photoshop, Substance, and Zbrush.

Strong understanding of scale, proportion, and surface properties.

Experience working within a game engine and implementing 3D work into engine.

Passion for making and playing games.

Shipped AAA game(s) a plus.

If this opportunity sounds like a great fit for you, please submit your resume and portfolio and we will get back to you once we have reviewed.