Senior VFX Artist

Gardens Interactive is on a mission to connect people worldwide through the universal joy of play. We’re looking for a Senior VFX Artist who’s ready to push boundaries and elevate our games with captivating visual effects that bring every pixel to life. From explosive combat effects to subtle ambient touches, you’ll have a hand in crafting VFX that not only enhances gameplay but builds emotional connections for our players. You’ll join a team that’s collaborative, respectful, and endlessly passionate about sustainable and inclusive game development.

A Day In The Life:

• Create Magic: Drive all stages of VFX creation, from ideation and look development to in-game polish for a broad range of effects including combat, environment, gameplay, creatures, and UI.

• Collaborate and Innovate: Work closely with our designers to ensure VFX feel authentic and meaningful, connecting gameplay clarity and visual storytelling.

• Build Together: Partner with our VFX, tech art and engineering teams to explore and develop new tools and workflows for the VFX art pipeline, continuously helping everyone create and iterate efficiently.

• Maintain Quality: Handle bug fixes, updates, and optimizations to keep VFX running smoothly across projects.

You have:

• Artistic Excellence: A critical eye for the fundamentals of VFX creation—shape, motion, color—and the ability to bring high-level artistic vision and unique art styles to life with flair.

• Industry Experience: 5+ years in the video game industry, with at least one shipped AA or AAA title under your belt.

• Technical Prowess: Expertise in Unreal Engine 5, with a strong command of Niagara, materials and rendering pipelines, focused on balancing performance and quality.

• Process Improvements: Enthusiasm about developing new tools and workflows, proactively contributing to a sustainable and extendable VFX pipeline.

• Team Spirit: Collaborative communication skills that bring people together across departments to create something special.

• Inclusive Approach: Passion for creating accessible, player-centered experiences, supporting Gardens’ mission to connect people through play.

• Innovative Mindset: An affinity for pushing the boundaries of VFX in live-service games, helping our studio create worlds players connect with and remember

Who We Are

We're a forward-thinking, distributed game studio founded by the creators behind titles like Journey, What Remains of Edith Finch, Blaseball, Dustforce, Ashen, Guild Wars 2, Firewatch, and more! Our name reflects our mission: to cultivate rich, immersive worlds that foster meaningful connections and lasting friendships. We believe in creating lush, living environments where players can engage in surprising multiplayer experiences and grow together with the support of their communities.

Our commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and transparency drives us to create a work environment where every voice is heard and valued. As a fully-distributed studio, we support our team in living and working from wherever they choose, offering competitive pay, stock options, flexible non-accrual paid time off, 35-hour work weeks, and comprehensive benefits, including full medical, vision, dental, and 401k contributions.

We're excited to be developing our flagship project — a shared 3D fantasy adventure inspired by our favorite online gaming memories. This is the world we’re passionate about building and the world we want to experience every day.

Gardens Offers:

• Competitive Salaries and Pay Transparency

• Stock Options

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage (100% for Individuals and 90% for Dependents)

• Life Insurance, Short Term & Long Term Disability, and other numerous benefits

• 401k contributions (USA) / RRSP plan + DPSP contributions (Canada)

• Paid Parental Leave

• Biannual Company Retreats

• Continued Education Allowance

• A fully-distributed studio. We aspire to support employees living and working where they want.

Benefits and perks listed may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Gardens and the country in which you work.

Encouragement:

We believe that diverse perspectives make our team stronger and our games better. If you’re excited about this role but don’t meet every single requirement, we encourage you to apply anyway. Studies show that marginalized groups, especially those of women and people of color, are less likely to apply unless they meet every criterion. At Gardens Interactive, we value potential, passion, and a willingness to grow. We hope you will join us in shaping the future of gaming.

Note:

Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that people have been contacted by scammers impersonating Gardens Interactive. Said individuals are offering opportunities with the intent of stealing financial information. Please be advised that our team's correspondence regarding positions (including tests, offers, and interviews) is associated with a gardens.dev email. Don't hesitate to reach out via direct message on LinkedIn or careers@gardens.dev . We will never ask you for your financial information.

Compensation Range: $167K - $186K