Principal Concept Artist (Characters)

As a Character Concept Artist at Riot, you will bring characters and creatures to life. Drawing inspiration from as little as a napkin sketch or as much as a full-blown narrative concept, you will generate ideas and craft designs that are resonant, compelling, and iconic. As a problem solver, first and foremost, you will help come up with visual solutions for game concepts.

As a Principal Character Concept Artist on the Unpublished R&D Product team, you’ll be responsible for designing characters that fit the thematics and tone of the game, while helping to define a unique interpretation of the IP that fits within our genre and gameplay needs. You’ll partner with the Art Director and character art leaders as you work across disciplines to shape the visual identity of new characters. You will also collaborate closely with designers, writers, and producers to bring these characters to life through strong, story-driven design

Responsibilities:

• Ideate and create highly varied character concepts
• Express character and story through your designs
• Explore creative solutions to establish a unique visual identity for the characters in the game
• Craft detailed concept art for 3D artists and outsourcing
• Work with game designers to understand and fulfill the needs of gameplay
• Collaborate with the other artists on the team by providing and receiving creative/team feedback and providing clear creative goals and outcomes to your team
• Work closely with the Art Director to explore and define new styles and tones in the IP
• Discover and incorporate interesting trends and non-traditional reference
• Continuously deliver concept assets that fulfill the requirements of the project’s game and visual design
• Collaborate with artists on the team by providing and receiving creative/team feedback and providing clear creative goals and outcomes to your team
• Guide and mentor junior members of the team

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of concept design experience in gaming or equivalent industry
• 5+ years of professional experience working in Photoshop or equivalent software
• Experience in a Principal or Lead role that involved establishing style or setting vision for the product

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience shipping at least one AAA game title
• Experience working on a highly recognizable stylized game
• Experience working in pre-production for at least one game title
• Experience with creating character concepts
• Experience working in Fantasy character concepts
• Familiarity with Riot’s Live IPs

When submitting your application, please provide a portfolio of your high-quality concept art - including stylized artwork.

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role!

Our Perks:

Riot has a focus on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy, in addition to other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming.

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

• Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
• Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
• Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
• Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.