Environment Artist

Half Mermaid Productions · Contract · Mid-Level · Remote

Salary: $50,000–$80,000 per year. Europe preferred. Occasional travel to New York City may be required.

Job Description

We are looking for an experienced and talented environment artist to join the development effort on our exciting new game “Project D.”

The project is a third person horror game with experimental narrative, a return to the genre that our director, Sam Barlow, previously explored with Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Candidates with experience of shipping a third person Unreal title on console are preferred. We're combining AAA experience with indie agility to deliver a big, ambitious game and are assembling a small team to make it happen. You will be joining the project during early development and setting the tone to establish the game's world.

This is a full-time contractor position on a remote team. Our studio is based in Brooklyn, NY and occasional travel to New York City may be required. Because of the collaboration with our Art team, European time zones are preferred.

Applicants from traditionally marginalized identities within the game industry are highly encouraged to apply. Half Mermaid Productions does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status.

If you have any questions or encounter any issues using our job application form, please email jobs@halfmermaid.co

Responsibilities

• Working as part of a small team to create a complex, rich and immersive world
• Sourcing and organising appropriate reference material
• Working from concept art and/or reference to create both unique and modular high quality game-ready 3d assets
• Ensure assets are appropriately optimised for the target platforms
• Working with external partners when required to review and integrate assets
• Troubleshooting and problem-solving when required

Required Skills

• A love of narrative-based games and a passion for environmental storytelling!
• Remote work requires a proactive attitude, a high level of self-motivation, great communication skills and the ability to self-organise
• Previous experience in a professional game development environment, with at least one shipped Unreal product
• A high level of written and spoken English.
• Portfolio demonstrating strong examples of:
  • 3d modelling and texturing (realistic assets only)
  • PBR material pipelines
  • Modular asset construction and world-building
  • Good understanding of colour and composition
  • Strong lighting skills, especially with Lumen
  • Examples of your workflow stages from start to finish
• Expert proficiency in:
  • Maya
  • Zbrush
  • Substance Painter
  • Photoshop
  • Unreal Engine

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Good understanding of current production processes
• Some knowledge of Substance Designer
• Traditional Art/Graphic Design abilities
• Good understanding of material creation and editing
• Experience of working with external partners
• Knowledge of additional techniques, such as photogrammetry

About Half Mermaid Productions

Half Mermaid is a video game production company based in Brooklyn, New York.

We were founded in 2017 by four time Bafta winning writer-director Sam Barlow, creator of Her Story.

In 2019, our first title, Telling Lies, was published by Annapurna Interactive. This intimate investigative thriller received rave reviews and was heralded for the depth of its story and the performances of its cast.

In 2022, we released IMMORTALITY to critical acclaim, including receiving the first perfect 10/10 score in Edge Magazine for an independent game. It tells the story of Marissa Marcel, a vanished actress who starred in three movies that were never released.

In 2023, we began production on our most ambitious title to date, Project █████.