Senior 3D Environment Artist

About the Position

We're seeking a Senior 3D Environment Artist with 7+ years of experience to create high-quality, in-engine worlds for our 4X strategy game.

About the Role

We need a Senior 3D Environment Artist to turn concepts into the real, in-engine worlds our 4X players explore. You'll model, texture, and dress environments to a high visual and technical standard owning the craft from blockout to final art while holding strict real-time performance budgets.

You'll work directly with the Art Director on visual and technical R&D, define the standard for our environments, and operate with complete autonomy from blockout to final real-time material setup.

Responsibilities

• Environment Creation

  • Full lifecycle environment art: R&D, modeling, retopology, UVs, baking, texturing, set dressing, and engine integration.
  • Environments that read clearly at top-down/isometric camera distances while adhering to strict real-time performance budgets.
  • Translate 2D concepts into our stylized-realism aesthetic, balancing strong planar forms with grounded material definition.

• Pipeline

  • Work with the creative director and art director to establish and document the environment art pipeline from DCC to engine.
  • Build efficient, reusable modular kits and trim sheets that scale across a large world.
  • Set and maintain naming conventions, export standards, and folder structures consistent with the character pipeline.
  • Work with the technical artist to maximize the quality and performance of our 3D workflow.

• Quality

  • Own the visual quality benchmark for all environment assets against the project's requirements.
  • Proactively identify and solve technical or visual bottlenecks in the environment pipeline.

Requirements

• Must-Have

  • 7+ years of 3D environment art experience in games, with at least one shipped title where you owned the environment pipeline or worked in a senior capacity. Shipped 4X Strategy or high-end mobile experience is a plus.
  • Deep expertise in Maya or Blender, ZBrush, and the Substance 3D Suite, with expert PBR and real-time workflows.
  • A portfolio of high-quality, in-engine environment work in a stylized or stylized-realism aesthetic.
  • Proven ability to hit performance budgets and optimize geometry, textures, and draw calls for target platforms.
  • High production autonomy able to take environments from concept to final engine integration with minimal oversight.
  • Professional maturity: comfortable in structured feedback loops and helping build a collaborative pipeline.

• Strong Advantage

  • Deep engine-integration experience (Unreal/Unity/proprietary), including shader setup and material optimization.
  • Experience establishing environment guidelines or top-down/isometric visual targets.
  • Procedural workflows (Houdini, Substance Designer) and tech-art/tooling skills.
  • Experience building modular kits and world-building systems at scale.

Portfolio Requirements

Your application must include a portfolio or reel showing:

• Final, in-engine environment renders - not just high-poly sculpts or offline renders.
• Wireframe turnarounds and UV/texture-sheet breakdowns showing game-ready topology and optimization.
• Modular kit or trim-sheet examples demonstrating reuse at scale.
• Stylized or stylized-realism work, ideally for a top-down or isometric camera, strongly preferred.

Skills

• Core Skills

  • 3D Modeling
  • 3D Visualization
  • Environment Modeling
  • Hard Surface Modeling
  • Prop Modeling
  • UV Mapping
  • World Building

• Software

  • 3ds Max
  • Blender
  • Maya
  • Substance 3D Designer
  • Substance 3D Painter
  • Unity
  • ZBrush

We Offer

• Remote Work: Fully remote position.
• Contract: Contract-based employment.

About the Company

WarForge Studio LLC is a tech startup founded in 2025, specializing in game development and innovative digital experiences. We aim to deliver engaging entertainment that combines competition, creativity, excitement, and innovation, with a strong focus on high-quality interactive experiences for a global audience.