Senior Game Environment Artist Job at NEX in New York

Senior Game Environment Artist

Nex is on a mission to help families rediscover the joy of movement. Created by parents for parents, Nex combines technology and play to deliver fun, social, and interactive experiences powered by natural body motion, encouraging kids and adults to move more, play more, and have fun together. Nex Playground, the company's award-winning active play system, is purpose-built to get families moving year-round, with safety and privacy as core considerations in its intentional design. It is certified kidSAFE+ COPPA compliant and built to support healthy, active play for all ages and abilities.
Nex Playground features a growing library of 50+ experiences, including motion and dance games, fitness and educational experiences, and Nex Originals. Content includes collaborations with partners like Hasbro, Sesame Workshop, and NBCUniversal. Nex has been recognized by Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, TIME's Best Inventions, and Parents' Best Entertainment System for Families, and has earned Red Dot, IDEA, and Core77 international design awards.
Team: Metaverse Cell
Location: Hong Kong or Remote (Preferred: UTC +6 to UTC +10 – works well with Hong Kong hours)
Reports to: Art Director
The Role

We're looking for a full-time, onsite or remote Senior Game Environment Artist to join our team and help create compelling environments for our interactive experiences. In this role, you'll collaborate closely with the art director, concept artist, tech artist, programmers, and fellow artists to take environments from early concept through final in-engine implementation, with a strong focus on visual quality, performance, and gameplay readability.
As a senior artist, you'll balance hands-on production with creative problem-solving, help establish visual standards, improve workflows, and support the team in delivering high-quality environments that reinforce gameplay, storytelling, and technical constraints. You'll play a key role in shaping how our worlds look, feel, and evolve throughout development.
This role is ideal for someone who can work independently when needed, communicates clearly across disciplines, and enjoys taking ownership of environment quality and art pipelines.
What You'll Do

Create high-quality 3D environments from concept through final in-engine implementation, including architecture, props, and set dressing
Build, optimize, and maintain assets for real-time performance while preserving strong visual quality
Assemble, light, and implement environments in Unity
Collaborate with the art director, concept artist, and tech artist to define and maintain the visual direction
Work closely with programmers to ensure environments meet technical and performance requirements
Contribute to world-building through strong composition, lighting, materials, and mood
Maintain clean, well-organized assets and follow established pipelines and performance guidelines
Provide constructive feedback and act as a knowledge base and mentor for other artists
Help maintain production pipelines while meeting schedules and deadlines
Contribute to defining and improving environment art pipelines and best practices
Set and uphold visual benchmarks and quality bars
What We're Looking For

3+ years of professional experience as an Environment Artist in games, with at least one shipped title
A strong portfolio demonstrating environment art skills, including modeling, texturing, composition, and in-engine implementation
Proficiency with major 3D content creation tools such as 3ds Max, Maya, or Blender, along with experience using ZBrush and the Adobe texturing suite
Strong understanding of environment art fundamentals, including scale, proportion, composition, lighting, color theory, and environmental storytelling
Solid knowledge of environment art workflows, including modular asset creation, optimization, and real-time constraints
Working knowledge of physically based rendering (PBR) workflows
Proven ability to create high-quality 3D assets, including hero props, with strong attention to detail
Ability to balance visual quality with technical constraints and performance requirements
Experience working with modern game engines, particularly Unity (Unreal experience considered transferable)
Strong communication skills, with professional proficiency in spoken and written English
Experience collaborating effectively across disciplines in a team environment
Comfort working remotely, independently, and across multiple time zones
A genuine passion for games and interactive experiences
Pluses

Experience contributing to AA or AAA game titles
Ability to communicate in Cantonese and/or Mandarin Chinese
Experience working across a range of art styles, including stylized, realistic, and anime-inspired
Experience and knowledge in hand-paint textures.
Interest in or familiarity with sports-themed games or interactive experiences
Experience optimizing visual quality and performance for low-power or constrained hardware
We Offer

Competitive compensation package.
Flexible working hours and vacation policy.
Product-driven culture that treasures talents and individual growth.
Front-row seat and hands-on experience with cutting edge technologies in the evolving gaming field
Nex is located in San Jose, California, USA and Hong Kong. Learn more about us at nex.inc/who-we-are. We encourage applications even if you don't meet more than 50% of the requirements — we believe that experience comes in many forms!
Nex is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. This policy applies to all individuals at every stage of the employment relationship, including all current and prospective employees, and covers all employment decisions including recruitment, hiring, job assignment, promotion, compensation, benefits, training, discipline and termination.
We are committed to providing a workplace free from discrimination and harassment and to fostering an inclusive environment for all employees.