Abstraction is a creative game development studio established in 2007 in The Netherlands with a no-compromise attitude that delivers cutting-edge results. Renowned for taking on technically demanding projects and providing support teams for AAA publishers, Abstraction does not shy away from a challenge and has delivered 200+ SKU’s across 60 games over the last 14 years. The company is also engaged with creative co-development and DLC projects and is producing an unannounced internal game based on an original IP.

The studio is proud to count as its partners, companies such as Bioware/EA, 343/Microsoft, Funcom, Sega, Paradox Interactive, Snail Games, Perfect World, Mythical Games and Aspyr Media to name but a few.

Abstraction’s HQ is based close to Eindhoven, The Netherlands and has a multi-skilled and multi-national team of 80+ and is in the middle of executing a plan that will see the team grow by 50% over the next year.

The company is privately owned and its executive team has a combined experience of over 100 years in the games industry.

For more information, please visit www.abstraction.games

Day in the life

The Lead Artist is responsible for the production of both in-house and outsourced art assets on schedule and within the established quality limits set by the art director.

You are setting the visual benchmark and are responsible for training and coaching your team members to achieve their goals on time and within budget.

You’ll maintain a healthy balance between lead duties and being hands-on in production.

You are proactive, responsible, and highly self-motivated and use this to inspire your team.

Responsibilities:

Collaborate with Production to organize, schedule, and manage your team's daily activities.
Lead, mentor and train Artists in your team.
Manage your team's personal growth and goals.
Take an active position during team discussions by providing creative and constructive input.
Guide the implementation of the Art Style through toolchains and workflow.
Act as liaison between art and code.
Participate in recruitment by screening and interviewing art candidates.

Must-have experience and skills On day one we'll expect you to have:

3+ years in the game industry of which 1 year as Lead Artist.
Have shipped multiple games on more than one platform (one of them being a console).
Experience with multiple game engines (and their limitations), 2D art tools, 3D software.
Familiarity with bug tracking software and version management systems.
Proactive, responsible, and highly self-motivated.
Critical thinking, time management, and organizational capabilities.
Able to anticipate & result oriented.
Able to balance time and quality.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
Passion for Games

What separates the best from the rest Bonus if you have previous experience managing out-sourced art assets production.

Work location and time zone

Fully remote during and post COVID-19 pandemic or onsite
Working hours are within the European time zone (CET).

Team culture

Embrace our core values:

Go beyond boundaries!

Use a “First Principles” approach.
Take nothing at face value.
Define your own path around obstacles.
Embrace ideas that almost anyone would consider outrageous.

Excel!

Perform exceptionally well.
Strive for symmetry (or intentional dissymmetry), beauty and polish.
Craft meticulously. Don’t stop when “it’s good enough…”.
Move mountains.

Be nice!

Apply the Most Respectful Interpretation approach with one another.
Maintain a safe environment for us, our partners and consumers.
Be transparent and do not keep up appearances.
Be candid and call out someone’s mistake but be nice about it. If you haven’t learned how to do this yet, learn it now.
Be respectful of other people’s time. Be punctual, prepared, and brief.

Grow!

Seek hard problems to solve.
Be better than yesterday.
Step out of your comfort zone often, take risks, make mistakes and learn from them.
Fail fast to succeed sooner.
Challenge each other to keep growing.
Blame none other but yourself, embrace failure and move on.

Art Lead