This job listing expired on Dec 4, 2023
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Riot Games was established in 2006 by entrepreneurial gamers who believe that player-focused game development can result in great games. We released League of Legends in 2009 which has since become the most played PC game in the world and a key driver of the explosive growth of Esports. With the release of Valorant, LoL: Wild Rift, Team-fight Tactics & Legends of Runeterra, Riot has now transformed into a multi-game studio, expanding our footprint in Asia and internationally in order to develop new games that can hyper-serve players globally.

As the first member of the VFX Team on a Research & Development project based in Shanghai, you will work closely with Art & Product leadership as well as other members of the team to develop early game prototypes that define the promise of our game thesis, building organizational confidence in our R&D project & facilitating efficient progress through the R&D development cycle through to global launch.

As a Senior VFX Artist you will be responsible for all aspects of VFX development, leading with hands-on craft skills, feedback-driven style of development, creative problem solving that prioritizes gameplay and player experience as well as fast, iterative style of working based on goals and timelines set by Art & Product Leadership. Collaborating closely with Designers, creatives, artists and other members of the team, you will explore and define innovative style and production techniques for the VFX of the game, as well as fine-tuning the impact and feel of our gameplay. You will also be counted on to set a high-bar for VFX style, helping to create Art Slice prototype for gameplay validation and player-testing, surfacing development challenges and project needs in order to help us consider future staffing as well as outsource and contractor solutions.

Responsibilities:

  • Fast prototyping of VFX solutions that convey ideas well, working with designers and art leads to establish gameplay clarity and maintain visual consistency.

  • Hands-on VFX creation that establishes a high bar for VFX style and quality, working closely with the team to conceptualize and implement a VFX style that fits the project’s art & creative direction as well as supporting gameplay goals and the desired player experience.

  • Cover all aspects of VFX development from early prototyping efforts to validate the gameplay thesis, style & look development during pre-production, as well as problem solving and troubleshooting to ensure good solutions for future production goals and challenges.

  • Provide modular solutions that allow non-VFX artists, especially Game Designers to quickly prototype ideas with placeholder VFX.

  • Create VFX style guides and frameworks around shape language, contrast, and clarity, to help your team and outsourcers to understand constraints and execute well.

  • Partner with Tech-artists & engineers to drive cross-disciplinary collaboration to ensure that all assets are appropriately optimized, as well as stable workflows that are flexible and sustainable.

  • Help us consider and manage outsourcing and contractor solutions, as well as explore new technologies and production techniques that can help us maintain an edge of efficiency in line with evolving industry standards.

Required Qualifications:

  • 5+ years of professional experience as a VFX artist in games

  • Portfolio/reel that showcases high-quality Real-time VFX in modern 3D development pipelines.

  • High proficiency in all aspects of VFX development, including fundamentals like timing, shape language, animation principles, color theory, and mesh engineering.

  • Experience with Stylized VFX creation that leverages hand-painted skills, well executed flip-book animations as well as current gen VFX simulation techniques and shaders.

  • Highly experienced with Unreal (UE5 preferred) and Niagara system for VFX creation.

  • Highly experienced with mobile-game VFX development and mobile performance optimization.

  • Advanced skills in 3D/2D Software such as Maya, Photoshop, Houdini etc

  • Experience working with multiple platforms and their respective memory, performance and hardware limitations.

  • Multiple shipped mobile or AAA game titles.

When submitting your application, please provide a portfolio of your high-quality VFX art - including stylized artwork. With samples of where you have created VFX concept art and taken it through to finished implementation. And as a part of the application process, you may also be asked to complete an art test.