Principal Illustration Artist

Job Description

As part of the concept team, you'll put stylus to Cintiq and create development and promotional art that represents the essence of a character, thematic, or gameplay to millions of players. You will use your artistic eye and experience with dynamic lighting, form, and color to tell concise and evocative stories. By working with a team of dedicated illustrators, visual designers, writers, animators, and game developers, you will help decide and illustrate each character's unique place in our universe.

VALORANT is Riot's take on a character-based tactical shooter (for more info on VALORANT click here!). As a Principal Illustration Artist for VALORANT, your craft expertise and eye for illustration will help deliver deep engagement for players and help us build and expand the IP. You will report to the Art Director and will be a key member of your discipline community. You will support the craft and execution across the whole VALORANT team by mentoring teammates and cultivating excellence. You will produce high quality promotional and visual development illustrations, with an excellent eye for light, color, composition, dynamic anatomy, high-fidelity rendering, storytelling and design. And you will mentor junior artists in their craft and work collaboratively with the broader team to maintain a high quality bar across a variety of illustrations from marketing to in-game assets.

Responsibilities:
• Execute illustrations and visual development concepts at a high quality while supporting team leadership in long term creative efforts.
• Partner directly with development and publishing teams to create premiere key art, promotional, and visual development assets.
• Design aspects of the world, characters, and weaponry to help expand the bounds of the IP and translate in-game content to other mediums.
• Maintain product alignment, style cohesion, and quality bar for all player-facing illustration assets, while holding the bar for VALORANT illustration style and quality.
• Provide guidance and feedback that force multiplies artists across your team in their efficiency, skills, and quality.

Required Qualifications:
• 8+ years of professional experience as an illustrator or concept artist in games or related industries
• Professional experience creating high-quality, stylized illustration and concept art
• Experience working in Photoshop

Desired Qualifications:
• Experience working with modeling, sculpting, and texturing programs such as Maya, Zbrush
• Familiarity with FPS genre

As a part of the application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete an art test.
Our Perks:

We offer medical, dental, and vision plans that cover you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children. Life insurance, parental leave, plus short-term and long-term disability coverage are also available. Riot will support your retirement benefits with a company match, and double down on your donations of time and money to non-profit charitable organizations. Balance between work and personal life is encouraged with open paid time off, and a play fund so you can broaden and deepen your personal relationship with games.

It's our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history (LAMC 189.00).
Our Perks:

We offer medical, dental, and vision plans that cover you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children. Life insurance, parental leave, plus short-term and long-term disability coverage are also available. Riot will support your retirement benefits with a company match, and double down on your donations of time and money to non-profit charitable organizations. Balance between work and personal life is encouraged with open paid time off, and a play fund so you can broaden and deepen your personal relationship with games.

It's our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance relating to an applicant's criminal history (LAMC 189.00).

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d96j79-3-144-172-115-42 in your application.