Lead Character Artist

Playground Games is looking for a Lead Character Artist to join our talented Forza Horizon team here in Leamington Spa on a permanent basis.

About us:

As a premier first-party Xbox Game Studio, we are passionate about making genre-defining games that are accessible, beautiful, and most of all fun. We are looking to expand our diverse team as we continue driving forward our BAFTA award-winning Forza Horizon franchise.

About the role:

As Lead Character Artist you’ll oversee the Character Art team, working in conjunction with the Art Director and Art Manager to plan work for the team and ensure our high-quality bar is realised. You will be expected to steer your team in creating clean and functional topology, high quality materials and optimise content for game, being comfortable leading communications with technical departments.

Our ideal candidate is familiar with industry standard software packages such as 3DSMax or Maya and have extensive experience with Brush and Substance Painter. They would have exceptional knowledge of human anatomy and possess a great understanding of best practices to suit animation needs and engine requirements.

This is a permanent role based at our state-of-the-art facilities in Royal Leamington Spa. We have a hybrid work model in place with a minimum of 3 days a week in studio. Relocation assistance is available if required.

What you’ll do:

• Be responsible for the tasks and bugs of the Character Art team, and work with other stakeholders to help define and prioritise them
• Develop the skills and talent of the Character Art team, carrying performance reviews and owning line management duties
• Mentor and provide feedback to the team and our outsource partners
• Creation of realistic sculpting, retopology and texturing, as well as assets briefs for body, face, hair and garments
• Integration of character assets in engine, troubleshoot rendering and shader issues and balance textures
• Collaborate closely with the Character, Tech Animation, Animation, Tech Art and Tech Teams to define pipelines and workflows whilst maintaining their documentation
• Insure that the communication between the Character team and other stakeholders is smooth and efficient

What you’ll bring:

• An interest in modern fashion
• Experience on at least one shipped AAA game project
• Strong understanding and demonstration of human anatomy and proportions
• A self-motivated team player attitude with good communication skills
• Portfolio demonstrating real time character artwork to very high standard
• A genuine passion for video games
• Proficiency in 3DSMax, Maya, Marvelous Designer, ZBrush, Wrap3D and Substance Painter
• Established character production workflows such as creating clean deformable topology, efficient UV mapping and baking, texturing, and cloth creation techniques
• A good understanding of technical considerations for character creation, with the ability to communicate with technical team members

This is a fantastic opportunity to make world-class games with an established, talented, and collaborative team at one of the industry’s most exciting first-party game studios.

Playground Games is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity and inclusion fuels creativity. We are dedicated to creating a safe, comfortable and welcoming working environment.

We strive to build an inclusive culture that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices of our team members. It drives our innovation and connects us closer to our players. We are committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion across age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

At Playground Games we recognise the importance of self-development, career progression, well-being and retention of our colleagues. We celebrate difference and welcome everyone to join us and to be themselves at work.