Lighthouse Games Character Artist, England

Lighthouse Games is a premier AAA studio situated in the historic gaming heartland of Royal Leamington Spa. Defined by a pedigree of industry-leading talent and a fierce ambition to build a best-in-class gaming experience, we are assembling a team of “future greats.” When you join Lighthouse, you aren’t just filling a seat; you are entering a collaborative, hybrid environment designed to help you produce the absolute best work of your career.

As a Character Artist
, you will be at the literal forefront of our storytelling. You will work in lockstep with the Character Art team, Animation department, and the Art Director to breathe life into protagonists, antagonists, and the inhabitants of our new world. We are looking for an artist who doesn’t just “sculpt models” but creates memorable experiences through digital flesh, bone, and fabric.

Category
Details

Company Name
Lighthouse Games

Job Title Character Artist

Location Royal Leamington Spa, England (Hybrid)

Job Type Full-Time

Estimated Salary Range £45,000 – £75,000 GBP (Based on experience + Discretionary Bonus)

Key Software ZBrush, Maya/Max, Marvelous Designer, Substance Painter

Core Engine Unreal Engine

Benefits Private Healthcare, Dental, Optical, Studio Shutdown

Your mission is to bridge the gap between 2D concepts and living, breathing 3D entities. This role requires a master’s touch in anatomy and a scientist’s precision in technical optimization.

You will be responsible for the end-to-end creation of realistic human characters. This involves:

• Sculpting & Modeling: Utilizing ZBrush and Maya/3DS Max to create high-poly sculpts that capture every nuance of human expression and anatomy.
• Technical Tailoring: Using Marvelous Designer to simulate realistic clothing, ensuring that folds, weight, and layers interact naturally with the character’s form.
• Surfacing & Texturing: Mastering Substance Painter and Photoshop to create complex skin shaders, weathered fabrics, and intricate material definitions that hold up under the scrutiny of 4K resolutions.

Characters do not exist in a vacuum. You will act as a vital link in the production chain:

• Animation & Rigging: Working with the Animation team to ensure that your topology allows for realistic deformation. You must understand how the human body moves and how clothing shifts during high-intensity action sequences.
• Technical Art & Engineering: Partnering with Tech Art to ensure assets are optimized for performance. This includes managing draw calls, polygon counts, and texture memory without sacrificing visual fidelity.
• Shaders & Lighting: Collaborating with the Lighting team to ensure your characters react beautifully to dynamic environments and complex shader networks.

Lighthouse Games is an evolving studio. We want you to help us build the “how” as much as the “what.”

• Assist in developing new techniques and tools to streamline the character art pipeline.
• Participate in rigorous studio critiques, offering and seeking feedback to ensure a “rising tide lifts all boats” atmosphere.
• Contributing to a healthy, inclusive studio culture where ego is secondary to the quality of the game.

To thrive at Lighthouse, you must demonstrate a blend of artistic intuition and technical discipline:

• Industry
  
  Experience:
  
  You must have shipped at least one title as a Character Artist (AAA experience preferred).
• Anatomical Expertise: A profound understanding of human anatomy, including skeletal structure, musculature, and the subtleties of facial movement.
• Software Mastery:
  • Sculpting: Expert-level ZBrush.
  • Modeling/UV: Proficiency in Maya or 3DS Max.
  • Clothing: Advanced skills in Marvelous Designer.
  • Texturing: Deep knowledge of Substance Painter and the P  (Physically Based Rendering) workflow.
• Optimization: A proven ability to produce game-ready assets that are optimized for modern consoles and PC hardware.
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills to navigate a hybrid work model effectively.

• Unreal Engine Knowledge: Experience navigating and…