Contract Environment Artist (Unannounced Project)

At ArenaNet, we’ve always believed that games are art. They have the power to communicate ideas and tell stories. They can change the way we think, reflect our cultures, and move us. As the developer of the award-winning Guild Wars game series, we’re proud to share our passion for the online worlds we’ve created with over 21 million players worldwide. ArenaNet develops and publishes games for every kind of person, which means our games need to be built by every kind of person. We believe the best experiences come from working together, celebrating differences, and helping each of our team members shine. ArenaNet is looking for a talented World Building Artist to help craft the world of an unannounced Unreal Engine 5 project. In this role, you’ll help shape large-scale playable spaces that are visually compelling, navigable, and rich with atmosphere and environmental storytelling. We’re looking for an artist with strong world-building instincts who understands how to create spaces that support gameplay, exploration, and player experience while maintaining a high visual quality bar. You’ll work closely with Environment Art, Design, Concept Art, Lighting, Tech Art, and Art Direction to build immersive worlds players want to spend time in. WHAT YOU’LL DO Build and polish large-scale game environments and playable maps in Unreal Engine 5. Collaborate closely with Design, Environment Art, Concept Art, Lighting, and Art Direction to create visually cohesive and gameplay-supportive spaces. Create compelling compositions, set dressing, and environmental storytelling that enhance player immersion and exploration. Assemble and integrate environment kits, terrain, foliage, props, materials, and lighting into final in-game spaces. Help define the mood, tone, and visual identity of different regions and locations throughout the game world. Work within gameplay constraints while maintaining strong artistic quality, readability, and performance targets. Partner with technical artists and engineers to improve workflows, optimization, streaming, and world-building pipelines. Iterate quickly based on playtesting, feedback, and evolving production needs. Contribute ideas and solutions that elevate the quality and functionality of the game world. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR 2+ years of professional game development experience building game environments or maps for shipped titles. Strong portfolio demonstrating large-scale environment creation, world-building, composition, and environmental storytelling. Experience building and dressing playable spaces in Unreal Engine, ideally UE5. Strong understanding of level composition, player navigation, visual readability, and gameplay flow. Excellent eye for scale, mood, lighting, color, and spatial storytelling. Experience working with modular environment kits, terrain tools, foliage systems, and world-building workflows. Applications will be accepted until Friday, June 5th by 10am PT. If the deadline is extended, the posting will be updated accordingly. If the position is filled before this date, the posting will be removed. Don’t meet every single requirement on this job post? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At ArenaNet, we believe diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and backgrounds make us a better team – we celebrate it. So, if you’re excited about this role, but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification listed, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.