Senior/principal Environment Artist - Never Alone Sequel

E-Line was founded in 2008 with the mission of developing games that fire the imagination, catalyze curiosity, explore meaningful themes, and provide gateways to new perspectives and interests. 

Want to work for a company that is actively trying to make a difference and change the world through video games and creative storytelling? We’d love to hear from you!

About the position: 

E-Line is seeking a talented Senior Environment Artist to join our art team and help with the development of Never Alone 2. This position will work directly with the art director, the design team, engineers, and our Alaska Native partners to help create the environments of Never Alone 2. Our ideal candidate will have the artistic and technical abilities necessary to achieve the experience set by Directors and Leads, and meet the visual goals of the project through the creation of the beautiful, atmospheric and authentic environments of Never Alone world.

Although E-Line’s headquarters are in Phoenix (Arizona), we work with game development talent around the world. This position is remote and open, preferably to candidates from the US, Canada, Central, and South America (due to time zone preferences). 

As our Senior Environment Artist, you will ...

• Be one of the principal art content creators on a very small environment team

• Work with the art director and leadership to help visualize and develop visual targets

• Create stunning, atmospheric environments in the unique style of Never Alone

• Build models, textures, materials, terrain, and lighting assets authentic to the Alaska region

• Be technically adept in navigating Unreal technical engine systems; from material graph, terrain, lighting and more as needed to increase aesthetic quality and technical performance.

• Research and contribute to processes, workflows and production pipeline improvements

• Work well in a team and help educate and guide junior team members

• Problem solve production challenges through collaboration and creative solutions

• Document processes for the creation of environment art

• Be a great communicator and listener for feedback and direction

We’re looking for someone who has …

• 5 or more years of professional experience in game development.

• Experience in game development pipelines and performance optimization of environment art, preferably with Unreal.

• Proficient with art content creation software (Photoshop, Maya, Zbrush, Substance, etc)

• A portfolio demonstrating strong examples of naturalistic and stylized environments

• Strong knowledge of natural scenery, composition, and lighting

It’s a bonus if you have …

• Experience with Unreal 5, Lumen, Nanite, Terrain, Shader creation and Blueprint scripting

• Are generalist focused and interested in taking on creation of lighting or material artist work supporting other department such as vfx and characters.

• A love for games aiming at innovation and impact

Top Reasons to Work with Us

• Being part of an enthusiastic, diverse team who wants to make games with a positive impact.

• Co-create an authentic game experience in collaboration with our Alaska Native partners.

• A positive, healthy remote work environment with flexible hours. We promote a culture free from crunch.

• We provide competitive salaries with full medical benefits and matching 401k, as well as paid paternity/maternity leave, vacation, holidays, and sick/wellness days.

About E-Line Media: 

We’re E-Line Media, a video game developer and publisher passionate about harnessing the power of games to help players understand and shape the world.

E-Line was founded in 2008 with the mission of developing games that fire the imagination, catalyze curiosity, explore meaningful themes, and provide gateways to new perspectives and interests. The Company is a mission-driven, for-profit enterprise whose investors seek market-level financial returns and positive social impact. The company’s titles include the BAFTA award-winning Never Alone, Beyond Blue, Gamestar Mechanic, and The Endless Mission. We use what we call an “inclusive development process” to make games with the communities and cultures we explore. We’re hand-in-hand from the start of the process through to the end to bring as much authenticity to the medium as possible. 

About the project:

The first game, Never Alone, was developed by E-Line Media and the Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC), a pioneering Alaska Native organization, with the goal of sharing, celebrating, and extending Alaska Native culture with a global audience. The game explores a story passed down for thousands of years, is in the Inupiat language, and features 26 mini-documentary 'cultural insights' that get unlocked through gameplay. 

Never Alone has touched a nerve globally.  It has been downloaded over 10 million times, featured in over 1000 articles, and won many awards, including a BAFTA and a PEABODY.  The game is featured in museums around the world, including the Smithsonian and MoMa.  CITC has converted their revenue in the game into equity in E-Line, and they're E-Line's largest shareholder, and their Chairman is the CEO of the Tribal Council. 

We believe players are more than ready for their next adventure with Nuna and Fox, and we are excited to work on the sequel. The second game, Never Alone 2, will build on what players liked about Never Alone 1 (authentic culture, beautiful, evocative world, co-op gameplay with Nuna and Fox, spirit helpers, unlockable ‘insights’), now enabling them to go much deeper in terms of innovative gameplay and cultural exploration. NA2 will take players on a moving, spiritual journey through fun gameplay, developed inclusively with the Alaska Native community.

Websites

• Never Alone website: http://neveralonegame.com

• Short New Yorker film about the 'inclusive development' process for Never Alone: https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/the-new-yorker-presents-never-alone

• Powerful review of Never Alone 1 by a Native American game critic: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-11-20-never-alone

E-Line Media values diverse perspectives and voices on our teams. We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.