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Senior Technical Artist, Environment - Unpublished R&D Product

Riot GamesRiot Games·Video Games

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~12 min

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57 days

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About the role

As a Senior Technical Artist on the MMO team, you will develop the systems, tools, and workflows that enable the creation of expansive, diverse, and evolving environments across Runeterra. This world is not a static backdrop—it is a living, responsive element of the player experience. Your work will empower the environment art team to build at scale while maintaining visual fidelity, performance, and creative flexibility for years to come.

As a Senior Environment Technical Artist, you'll partner closely with Environment Art, Tech Art, and Engineering to develop robust procedural workflows, modular asset systems, and tools that make large-scale, high-fidelity worldbuilding not just possible—but efficient. This role is a mix of toolmaker, collaborator, and artist. You’ll work with artists and designers to transform creative vision into performant, scalable content that supports exploration, gameplay, and immersion across a sprawling open world.

Responsibilities:

  • Build and maintain procedural and targeted tools that support scalable environment asset creation in Houdini, Unreal, and other pipelines.
  • Author and maintain tools that enable modular workflows, from terrain generation and biome setup to foliage systems and world composition.
  • Contribute hands-on to worldbuilding—working directly in-engine to prototype and improve asset fidelity, modular kits, and visual consistency across biomes.
  • Partner with Environment Artists and Level Designers to ensure tools meet creative needs while driving performance, reusability, and efficiency.
  • Develop and maintain Unreal Engine 5 environment tools, including landscape systems, foliage, spline tools, material workflows.
  • Provide environment-focused technical support and problem-solving, helping unblock teams and identifying improvements in real-time workflows.
  • Proactively identify bottlenecks in content pipelines and propose systemic, scalable solutions that align with the game’s long-term needs.
  • Contribute to the visual and technical evolution of the world, ensuring our tools keep pace with an ever-expanding ecosystem of environments, systems, and gameplay needs.
  • Proactively identify tech debt and pipeline inefficiencies, explore future technology, and drive strategic solutions that prepare us for the long road of live service MMO development.

Required Qualifications:

  • 5+ years as a Technical Artist or Environment TD in games or related industries, with a focus on environment content development.
  • Proven experience with Houdini or equivalent procedural systems used in games for terrain, layout, or asset generation.
  • Strong proficiency in 3D modeling, texturing, and lighting, with working knowledge of tools like Maya, Blender, 3ds Max, ZBrush, etc.
  • Experience scripting in Python, Blueprint, or similar languages to build tools or automate workflows.
  • Deep familiarity with Unreal Engine 5’s worldbuilding tools, including PCG, the material editor, world partition, and level streaming systems.
  • Demonstrated ability to work cross-discipline and support artists, designers, and engineers through technical collaboration and tool iteration.

Desired Qualifications:

  • Experience building or supporting large-scale open worlds, MMOs, or multiplayer games with persistent or procedural environments.
  • Experience using Substance Designer, Houdini Copernicus, or other procedural texture/material generation tools.
  • Familiarity with cross-discipline workflows, especially integrating art pipelines with level design, gameplay systems, and engine constraints.
  • A strong eye for environmental storytelling, with an interest in translating narrative and gameplay needs into scalable technical solutions.

Portfolio Requirements:

Please include a portfolio or reel that showcases:

  • Examples of procedural tools or workflows you’ve developed (e.g. terrain generation, biome tools, spline tools).
  • Demonstrable in-engine worldbuilding work, including asset integration.
  • Any documentation or breakdowns that highlight how your tools or tech contributed to scale, speed, or creative flexibility.

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, ex

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Aplyr's read

Riot Games is a powerhouse in the gaming world, attracting talent passionate about esports and community-driven game development.

Synthesized from recent postings & public sources

What's promising

  • Riot Games has a strong focus on community engagement, fostering a dedicated player base.
  • The company is a leader in esports, providing numerous opportunities for growth in competitive gaming.
  • Riot invests heavily in research and development, driving innovation in gaming technology.

What to watch

  • Work-life balance can be challenging due to the fast-paced nature of the gaming industry.
  • There is pressure to maintain the high success of flagship titles like League of Legends.
  • The company faces intense competition from other major game developers and publishers.

Why Riot Games

  • Riot Games is renowned for its strong esports ecosystem, influencing global gaming culture.
  • The company emphasizes player feedback, integrating community input into game development.
  • Riot's diverse role offerings span from creative arts to cutting-edge tech, attracting varied talent.

Aplyr’s read is generated by AI from public sources. Was it useful?

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About Riot Games

Riot Games is a leading video game developer and publisher known for creating popular titles such as League of Legends and Valorant. The company has significantly impacted the gaming industry by fostering a strong esports ecosystem and community engagement.

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