Senior 3D Environment Artist

About WarForge Studio

Founded in 2025, WarForge Studio is an emerging game development startup focused on delivering high-caliber interactive entertainment to a global audience. Their primary project is a 4X strategy game featuring a unique top-down/isometric viewpoint combined with a stylized fantasy visual style. Initially targeting the Middle Eastern market, the game aims for worldwide reach. The company blends local talent with international expertise, and as it continues to establish its internal workflows, new team members will have a significant role in shaping these processes.

Role Overview

The studio is seeking a Senior 3D Environment Artist responsible for transforming conceptual designs into fully realized in-engine worlds explored by players of their 4X strategy game. This role encompasses modeling, texturing, and environmental detailing to deliver visuals that meet high artistic and technical standards. The artist will own the full process from initial blockout to finalized assets, ensuring optimal real-time performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Complete environment asset creation lifecycle including R&D, modeling, retopology, UV mapping, baking, texturing, set dressing, and integration into the game engine.
• Creating environments that are visually clear and effective from top-down or isometric perspectives, while complying with stringent real-time performance constraints.
• Interpreting 2D concepts within a stylized-realism art style, balancing defined planar shapes with realistic material details.
• Collaborating with the creative and art directors to define, document, and establish the environment art pipeline workflows from digital content creation tools to engine deployment.
• Developing modular kits and trim sheets that are efficient, reusable, and scalable for large world-building.
• Maintaining naming, export standards, and folder structures aligned with character art pipelines.
• Partnering with technical artists to enhance the 3D art pipeline’s visual quality while optimizing performance.
• Setting and upholding quality benchmarks for environment assets to meet project standards.
• Proactively identifying and resolving technical or visual challenges within the environment creation process.

Candidate Profile

Essential Qualifications:

• At least 7 years’ experience in 3D environment art for games, including ownership of the environment pipeline or senior responsibilities on at least one shipped title. Experience with 4X strategy games or high-end mobile platforms is advantageous.
• Proficiency in Maya or Blender, ZBrush, and the Substance 3D Suite, with expert-level understanding of PBR and real-time art workflows.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality in-engine environments created in a stylized or stylized-realism style.
• Proven skill in meeting performance budgets by optimizing geometry, texture sizes, and draw calls.
• Capability to independently manage environment art from concept through to engine-ready assets with minimal supervision.
• Professional demeanor, receptive to structured feedback, and enthusiastic about contributing to a collaborative pipeline development.

Preferred Skills:

• Extensive engine integration experience (Unreal, Unity, or proprietary engines), including shader and material performance tuning.
• Experience defining environment art standards and visual targets for top-down or isometric views.
• Familiarity with procedural workflows using Houdini or Substance Designer and broader technical art and tooling expertise.
• Background in building modular kits and large-scale world-building systems.

Role Clarifications:

• This is a senior-level position requiring mastery and proactive leadership in pipeline development, not a junior or mid-level support role.
• The artist will influence pipeline decisions, elevate visual benchmarks, and assume full ownership of deliverables.
• The studio is still refining its processes, so the role involves building and strengthening workflows.

Portfolio Expectations

Applications must include a portfolio or reel showcasing:

• Final in-engine environment renders rather than only high-poly sculptures or offline reference images.
• Wireframe views, UV layouts, and texture sheets illustrating game-ready topology and optimization.
• Examples of modular kits or trim sheets highlighting asset reuse at scale.
• Stylized or stylized-realism art suitable for top-down or isometric camera perspectives, which is strongly preferred.