Art Director

1 Day ago • All levels

Job Summary

Job Description

As an Art Director at Compulsion Games, you will define and guide the artistic vision for the next project. You'll lead the art, concept, character, environment, and VFX teams, ensuring every visual element supports the game’s creative direction and deepens player immersion. You’ll work closely with directors, designers, and technical teams to align aesthetic ambition with technical feasibility and ensure that art pipelines and workflows support the team’s success. Responsibilities include defining and maintaining the artistic visions, overseeing art guidelines, ensuring art assets meet both creative and technical needs, collaborating with technical artists and engineers, guiding and mentoring artists, and fostering a culture of innovation and artistic excellence.
Must have:
  • Extensive experience in game art, ideally with an art leadership role
  • Expertise in concept art, environment art, character design, and VFX
  • Strong grasp of artistic composition, color theory, and visual storytelling
  • Experience with Unreal Engine and art pipelines
  • Ability to balance creative vision with production constraints
Perks:
  • Full health care coverage for you and your family
  • RRSP matching
  • Relocation support
  • Mental health and wellness programs
  • MS Store discounts
  • 3 weeks of vacation plus two week-long studio closures

Job Details

JOB DESCRIPTION: Art Director  

DISCIPLINE: Creative Leadership | Art 

REPORTS TO: Head of Studio  

  

The Studio  

Compulsion Games, part of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios, is based in Montreal, Canada. Since 2009, we’ve been dedicated to crafting extraordinary games that explore the depths of human experience. Our titles, including Contrast, We Happy Few, and the more recently shipped South of Midnight – are games acclaimed for their unique art, immersive music, rich worlds, and captivating stories.  

  

Studio Culture  

At Compulsion Games, we nurture a human-first culture founded on trust, autonomy, harmony, and exceptional craft. Our team values experimentation and artistic expression, embracing diversity and inclusivity as core principles. We believe that creativity thrives in an environment where everyone feels heard and respected. 

  

The Role  

As an Art Director at Compulsion Games, you will define and guide the artistic vision for our next project. You’ll lead the art, concept, character, environment, and VFX teams, ensuring every visual element supports the game’s creative direction and deepens player immersion. 

 

You’ll work closely with directors, designers, and technical teams to align aesthetic ambition with technical feasibility and ensure that art pipelines and workflows support the team’s success. 

 

Responsibilities:  

  • Define and maintain the artistic visions and quality benchmarks for the project.
  • Work with concept, character, environment, and VFX teams to ensure cohesive world-building.
  • Oversee art guidelines, style guides, and technical constraints.  
  • Ensure art assets meet both creative and technical needs.
  • Collaborate with technical artists and engineers to optimize visuals for performance.
  • Guide and mentor artists, providing feedback and creative direction.
  • Work with narrative and design teams to ensure visuals elevate gameplay and storytelling.
  • Collaborate with producers to create realistic schedules and deliverables.  
  • Stay current with art trends, new tools, and best practices.
  • Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and artistic excellence.  

 

Skills & Experience;  

  • Extensive experience in game art, ideally with exposure to an art leadership position.
  • Expertise in concept art, environment art, character design, and VFX.
  • Strong grasp of artistic composition, color theory, lighting, and visual storytelling.
  • Experience with Unreal Engine and art pipelines.
  • Ability to balance creative vision with production constraints.
  • Strong communication, leadership, and mentorship skills.
  • Passion for creating visually stunning, emotionally engaging worlds.  

 

What We Offer  

  

This full-time role offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits, including full health care coverage for you and your family, RRSP matching, relocation support, mental health and wellness programs, MS Store discounts, 3 weeks of vacation plus two week-long studio closures, and other perks. 

 

Our Montreal studio, near Atwater Metro station, operates with hybrid and fully remote options for employees based in or relocating to Canada. 


---

 

DESCRIPTION DE POSTE : Directeur.trice Artistique  

DISCIPLINE :Leadership Créative  

RELÈVE DE :Directeur trice du Studio  

  

Le Studio  

Compulsion Games, faisant partie des Xbox Game Studios de Microsoft, est basé à Montréal, au Canada. Depuis 2009, nous nous consacrons à la création de jeux extraordinaires qui explorent les profondeurs de l’expérience humaine. Nos titres, dont Contrast, We Happy Few et le plus récent South of Midnight, sont tous salués pour leur art unique, leur musique immersive, leurs mondes riches et leurs histoires captivantes. 

  

Culture du Studio  

Chez Compulsion Games, nous valorisons une culture centrée sur l’humain, axée sur la confiance, l’autonomie, l’harmonie et un savoir-faire exceptionnel. Notre équipe encourage l’expérimentation et l’expression artistique, tout en adoptant la diversité et l’accessibilité comme valeurs fondamentales. Nous croyons que la créativité s’épanouit dans un environnement où chaque voix compte. 

  

Le Rôle  

En tant que Directeur Artistique chez Compulsion Games, vous définirez et guiderez la vision artistique de notre prochain projet. Vous dirigerez les équipes en charge de l’art, du concept, des personnages, des environnements et des effets visuels (VFX), en veillant à ce que chaque élément visuel soutienne la direction créative du jeu et approfondisse l’immersion des joueurs. 


Vous collaborerez avec les directeurs, designers et équipes techniques pour équilibrer ambition artistique et faisabilité technique, et veillerez à ce que les pipelines artistiques et workflows soutiennent la réussite de l’équipe. 

 

Responsabilités  

  • Définir et maintenir la vision artistique et les standards de qualité du projet. 
  • Collaborer avec les équipes de concept, personnages, environnements et VFX pour garantir une cohérence visuelle. 
  • Superviser les directives artistiques, guides de style et contraintes techniques.  
  • S’assurer que les assets artistiques répondent aux besoins créatifs et techniques. 
  • Collaborer avec les technical artists et ingénieurs pour optimiser les visuels. 
  • Encadrer et guider les artistes, en fournissant des feedbacks et une direction créative. 
  • Travailler avec les équipes narratives et design pour garantir que les visuels améliorent le gameplay et la narration. 
  • Collaborer avec les producteurs pour élaborer des plannings réalistes et assurer les livrables.  
  • Se tenir à jour sur les tendances, les outils et les meilleures pratiques artistiques. 
  • Promouvoir une culture d'innovation, de collaboration et d'excellence artistique.  

 

Compétences et Expérience

  • Expérience approfondie dans le domaine de l’art pour les jeux vidéo, idéalement avec une expérience en tant que leader artistique.
  • Expertise en art conceptuel, environnement, design de personnages et VFX. 
  • Excellente maîtrise de la composition, de la théorie des couleurs, de l’éclairage et de la narration visuelle. 
  • Expérience avec Unreal Engine  et les pipelines artistiques. 
  • Capacité à équilibrer vision créative et contraintes de production. 
  • Excellentes compétences en communication, leadership et mentorat. 
  • Passion pour la création de mondes visuellement saisasissants et émotionnellement puissants.  

  

Ce que Nous Offrons  

Ce poste à temps plein offre un salaire compétitif et des avantages complets : couverture santé pour vous et votre famille, REER avec contribution équivalente, soutien à la relocalisation, programmes de santé mentale et bien-être, réductions Microsoft Store, 3 semaines de vacances et deux fermetures annuelles d’une semaine, ainsi que de nombreux autres avantages. 

 

Notre studio à Montréal, près de la station de métro Atwater, offre des options de travail hybride ou entièrement à distance pour les employés basés au Canada ou souhaitant s’y installer. 



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About The Company

Hello! We are Compulsion Games. We're an independent videogame developer based in Montreal, Canada. We have a small office in Saint Henri, where we enjoy trudging through snow in the winter and Montreal's festival scene in the summer. 

We started in 2009, and focus on creating new intellectual properties for PC and console using Unreal. Our team is a bunch of passionate, excited people, with a range of experience from very senior to junior. The two main things that we have in common are a passion for videogames, and a desire to create amazing work. We're now 40 people in the office and we are looking to expand with the right people.

Our first game, Contrast, launched on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and PS4 in November 2013, and on Xbox One in May 2014. It was a game about a little girl and her imaginary friend, set in an adult world of film noir, cabaret and gangsters. We're damn proud of it.

We shipped our second project, We Happy Few, in August 2018. It's a game set in a retrofuturistic 1960s England, filled with paranoid citizens and not a lot of food.

2018 was definitely an exciting year as we also joined the Xbox family; we are really thrilled to become a Microsoft studio. We'll be working on our new IP for the coming years so do not hesitate to contact us if you want to be part of the adventure.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Hybrid)

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