Lead Environment Artist Job at Warner Media, LLC. in Chicago

Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery—the stuff dreams are made of.

Overview

NetherRealm Studios is part of the Warner Bros. Games family. With over 20 years of creation, NetherRealm’s mission is to create cutting edge entertainment and deliver industry leading tech, game art and overall gaming experiences. The team is collaborative and creative, focused on pushing what is possible in interactive entertainment.

NetherRealm Studios is looking for a Lead Environment Artist to help create standout, next-level game worlds. You will work with the Art Director, Art Leads, and Tech Leads to set the look and feel for environments, guiding a team of artists and collaborating with external partners to meet high standards. The role involves finding ways to improve the game, valuing feedback, and bringing ideas to life with the team.

Location

Position is hybrid from studio in Chicago.

Responsibilities

• Work with the Art Director, Art and Technical Leads to shape and maintain the overall vision for environments and environment-adjacent systems.
• Mentor, support, and give regular feedback to build and maintain a strong, cohesive team.
• Promote skill-sharing through training sessions, documentation, and tutorials.
• Estimate tasks, coordinate with production, and ensure environment goals align with other departments.
• Collaborate during prototyping to enable quick iterations on environment assets and game systems.
• Create benchmark quality assets from concept art to demonstrate visual and technical quality as a reference for the environment team.
• Regularly review assets to maintain quality and ensure proper technical implementation.

The Essentials

• At least 4-5 years of video games development experience with significant involvement in 2 published AAA games, with at least one project at Lead level or equivalent.
• Ability to quickly prototype and iterate in collaboration with other departments.
• Strong skills in environmental design, layout, composition, and storytelling.
• Great sense of scale and proportion.
• Expert knowledge of Adobe Substance tools like Painter and Designer.
• Knowledge of physically based rendering (PBR).
• Experience with Unreal Engine 4 or newer.
• Self-motivated and proactive with a strong work ethic.
• A creative, empathetic, and collaborative approach to teamwork.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

The Nice to Haves

• Familiar with Mortal Kombat, Injustice, and other fighting game properties.
• Experience with procedural content creation packages.

How We Get Things Done

Our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate. You can find them at www.wbd.com/guiding-principles/ along with insights from the team on what they mean.

Championing Inclusion at WBD

Warner Bros. Discovery embraces a workforce that reflects a wide array of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. We are an equal opportunity employer and consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, and other protected categories by law. If you require adjustments during the application process, please visit the accessibility page for instructions to submit your request.

Compensation: base pay range is $77,000.00 - $143,000.00 per year. Actual salaries vary based on factors including location, experience, and performance. This is part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s total compensation package and may include bonuses, incentives, and program-specific awards. Benefits include health insurance, wellness programs, life and disability insurance, retirement savings, paid holidays and sick time and vacation.