Senior Material Artist

Who We Are

2K Games is headquartered in Novato, California and is a wholly owned label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO). Founded in 2005, 2K Games is a global video game company, publishing titles developed by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. Our studios responsible for developing 2K’s portfolio of world-class games across multiple platforms, include Visual Concepts, Firaxis, Hangar 13, CatDaddy, Cloud Chamber, 31st Union, and HB Studios. Our portfolio of titles is expanding due to our global strategic plan, building and acquiring exciting studios whose content continues to inspire all of us! 2K publishes titles in today’s most popular gaming genres, including sports, shooters, action, role-playing, strategy, casual, and family entertainment.

Located in Vancouver, BC, 2K Sports Lab is a small collective being formed within 2K Games that is driving the research and development of future sports interactive entertainment programs. Within this group, speculative work will be done on future sports games with an eye towards taking the magic of 2K’s publishing and development expertise and applying them to future opportunities.

Our team of engineers, marketers, artists, writers, data scientists, producers, thinkers and doers, are the professional publishing stewards of our growing library of critically-acclaimed franchises such as NBA 2K, 2K PGA, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Lego Drive, BioShock, Borderlands, The Quarry, Mafia, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, WWE 2K, and XCOM.

At 2K, we pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work! We encourage ALL applicants to explore our global positions, even if they don’t meet every requirement for the role. If you're interested in the job and think you have what it takes to work at 2K, we encourage you to apply.

What We Need

As a Senior Material Artist at 2K Sports Lab, you’ll be responsible for designing realistic surfaces that breathe life into our worlds. You’ll collaborate closely with Art Leads, Tech Art, Rendering and Lighting to ensure all materials are visually spectacular, optimized, and production-ready within Unreal Engine.

What You’ll Do

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  Create realistic and physically accurate tileable materials

  
  


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  Build, maintain, and document Master Materials and Material Instances in Unreal Engine, with scalability and performance in mind.

  
  


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  Work with Lead Artists and Art Director to ensure materials match asset needs and visual direction.

  
  


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  Partner with Tech Art and Rendering to prototype and implement shader effects, including blending, parallax, vertex painting, weathering, and layered materials.

  
  


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  Help drive and maintain a high standard of visual consistency and quality across all surfaces in the game.

  
  


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  Optimize textures and shaders for performance and memory budgets on multiple platforms.

  
  


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  Contribute and maintain a material library across the studio.

  
  

What Will Make You a Great Fit:

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  5+ years of material artist experience in the games, film, or animation industry

  
  


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  Advanced knowledge of Unreal Engine’s Material Editor, including material functions, world-aligned textures, and instance parameters

  
  


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  Expert in Substance Designer, with a strong understanding of procedural workflows.

  
  


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  Deep understanding of PBR and how materials respond to different lighting conditions

  
  


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  Experience collaborating with multiple art departments (Characters, Environments, lighting, and tech art)

  
  


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  Solid understanding of performance trade-offs and material optimization.

  
  


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  Familiarity with Megascans, Decal creation, and material blending workflows

  
  


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  Experience with layered materials for open-world or large-scale environments.

  
  


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  Previous work in photogrammetry pipelines or texture scanning.

  
  


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  Passion for realism and attention to fine surface detail

  
  


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  Fresnel is not just a word to you

  
  

Bonus Points:

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  Knowledgeable with Unreal Substrate.

  
  


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  Experience with vertically layered shading models such as OpenPBR.

  
  


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  Experience writing shaders in HLSL

  
  


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  Experience shipping games cross-platform

  
  

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to ensuring that qualified individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform their essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us if you need reasonable accommodation.

Please note that 2K Games and its studios never uses instant messaging apps or personal email accounts to contact prospective employees or conduct interviews and when emailing, only use 2K.com accounts.
The pay range for this position in British Columbia at the start of employment is expected to be between CAD $90,400 and CAD $133,780 per Year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations. Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards, in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an 'at-will position' and the company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

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