Senior Animation Artist - VALORANT

Riot Games was established in 2006 by entrepreneurial gamers who believe that player-focused game development can result in great games. In 2009, Riot released its debut title League of Legends to critical and player acclaim. As the most played PC game in the world, over 100 million play every month. Players form the foundation of our community and it’s for them that we continue to evolve and improve the League of Legends experience. 

We’re looking for humble but ambitious, razor-sharp professionals who can teach us a thing or two. We promise to return the favor. Like us, you take play seriously; you’re passionate about games. We embrace those who see things differently, aren’t afraid to experiment, and who have a healthy disregard for constraints.

That's where you come in.

As a member of the Valorant Animation team, you will elevate the player experience by breathing life into our weapons and tactical gameplay through exceptional animation. A great reel will showcase a strong foundation in classic animation principles, such as weight, anticipation and impact, applied to game-ready assets. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop innovative features, leveraging your expertise in Unreal Engine animation pipelines to implement, polish, and define the premium quality standard for Valorant skins.

As a Senior Animation Artist on the Valorant (VAL) Premium Content team, you will be responsible for bringing premium content to life through best-in-class first-person animation. You will uphold the bar for high-quality weapon animations, including equips, reloads, firing, inspects, and other skin-driven features such as Gun Buddies and Finishers, as well as third-person character animations. You will partner closely with artists, designers, and engineers to create high-quality skin experiences that enhance the look, feel, and satisfaction of Valorant’s premium skins. Additionally, you will utilize your knowledge of animation technical pipelines within Unreal Engine to implement and polish these assets.

Responsibilities:

• Create animation assets for highly iterative gameplay prototypes
• Establish animation benchmarks and uphold a high-quality bar to ensure consistency and excellence across skin releases
• Drive the evolution of Valorant’s animation style by iterating on the aesthetic direction for premium content 
• Work autonomously on multiple projects with various leads and subject matter
• Recognize areas of opportunity for animation to enhance gameplay experience
• Meet project deadlines in a timely manner without compromising artistic integrity
• Consistently communicate with the team by giving and receiving feedback, directing next steps, and providing clear goals and outcomes to your team
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams to align on animation goals and execution for premium content

Required Qualifications:

• 8+ years of professional experience working in animation
• 8+ years of professional experience working in Maya

Desired Qualifications:

• Familiarity with stylized animation and art direction
• Professional experience with FPS weapon animation pipelines and skin mechanics
• Advanced proficiency in Unreal Engine 
• Experience with both character (biped/creature) and weapon animation
• Experience mentoring other artists or contributing to team craft development
• Familiarity with rigging workflows and the ability to diagnose and resolve technical animation issues in a real-time pipeline
• Strong technical problem-solving skills and pipeline troubleshooting ability
• Experience with source control systems (e.g. Perforce)
• Passion for Valorant’s aesthetic and gameplay style

As a part of the application process, you will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete an art test.

Our Perks:

• Full relocation support
• Full health insurance for you, your spouse and children
• Open paid time off
• Retirement benefits with company matching
• Life insurance, parental leave, plus short-term and long-term disability
• Play Fund so you can broaden and deepen your knowledge of our players and community through games
• We will double down on your donations of time and money to non-profits