Lead Artist, World Job at Warner Bros. Discovery in Chicago

Content Summary: Lead Artist, World at Chicago, for Warner Bros. Discovery

Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery… the stuff dreams are made of.

Who We Are…

When we say, “the stuff dreams are made of,” we’re not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD’s vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating what’s next…

The creative team that brought Mortal Kombat and Injustice to life is now NetherRealm Studios, part of the Warner Bros. Games family. With over 20 years of creation under our belts, NetherRealm’s mission remains the same: to create cutting edge entertainment and deliver industry leading tech, game art and overall gaming experiences.

NetherRealm Studios is on the lookout for a Lead Environment Artist to help create standout, next-level game worlds. You’ll work with the Art Director, Art Leads, and Tech Leads to set the look and feel for our environments, pushing both the art and tech boundaries. As Lead, you’ll guide a team of artists and collaborate with external partners to make sure everything we create hits our high standards.

• Work with the Art Director, Art and Technical Leads to shape and maintain the overall vision for environments and environment-adjacent systems.
• Mentor, support, and give regular feedback to build and maintain a strong, cohesive team.
• Promote skill-sharing through training sessions, clear documentation, and both written and video tutorials.
• Estimate tasks, coordinate with production, and ensure that environment goals align with other departments.
• Collaborate closely with the team during prototyping to enable quick iterations on environment assets and game systems.
• Create benchmark quality assets from concept art and breakouts to demonstrate visual and technical quality as a reference for the environment team.
• Regularly review assets to maintain quality and ensure proper technical implementation.

The Essentials

• At least 4-5 years of video games development experience with significant involvement in 2 published AAA games, with at least one project at the Lead level or equivalent experience.
• Ability to quickly prototype and iterate in collaboration with other departments.
• Strong skills in environmental design, layout, composition, and storytelling.
• Great sense of scale and proportion.
• Expert knowledge of Adobe Substance tools like Painter and Designer.
• Knowledge of physically based rendering (PBR).
• Experience with Unreal Engine 4 or newer.
• Self-motivated and proactive with a strong work ethic.
• A creative, empathetic, and collaborative approach to teamwork.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

The Nice to Haves

• Familiar with Mortal Kombat, Injustice, and other fighting game properties.
• Experience with procedural content creation packages.

Championing Inclusion at WBD

Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of our society and the world around us. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.

If you’re a qualified candidate with a disability and you require adjustments or accommodations during the job application and/or recruitment process, please visit our accessibility page for instructions to submit your request.

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