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Environment Artist Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Epic Games

Principal Environment Artist

Cary, NC · On-site

This role combines hands-on environment art production, artistic leadership, and technical problem-solving. You will create benchmark-quality work, establish visual standards, develop scalable ...

Naughty Dog

Environment Artist

Santa Monica, CA

... high quality environments for games * Collaborative mindset while working closely with other ... Strong artistic ability to visualize entire levels and detail with minimal concept art and ...

Naughty Dog

Environment Artist

Santa Monica, CA · On-site

$57.98 - $72.45/hr

... high quality environments for games * Collaborative mindset while working closely with other ... Strong artistic ability to visualize entire levels and detail with minimal concept art and ...

PUBG Seattle

Senior Environment Artist

Bellevue, WA · On-site

$143K - $171K/yr

We are looking for an experienced Environment Artist to join our team and help bring immersive, visually stunning worlds to life. This role requires strong artistic vision, technical expertise, and ...

Stone Kite

Staff Environment Artist

Seattle, WA · On-site

$150K - $170K/yr

Staff Environment Artist Stone Kite is a world building studio that thoughtfully develops heroic universes across games, film, TV, comics, audio, and more. Built by veterans from game and ...

Stone Kite

Staff Environment Artist

Seattle, WA · Remote

$150K - $170K/yr

Staff Environment Artist Stone Kite is a world building studio that thoughtfully develops heroic universes across games, film, TV, comics, audio, and more. Built by veterans from game and ...

Epic Games

Senior Environment Artist

Cary, NC · On-site

$117K - $140K/yr

Our Senior Environment Artists are highly talented, creative, and versatile individuals who build the aesthetically groundbreaking and technically advanced environments used in our games. In this ...

Astrid Entertainment

Senior Environment Artist

$130K - $155K/yr

We are currently seeking a Senior Environment Artist to become a vital part of our team. We are looking for an individual who has a passion for co-op games that offer players creative tools to craft ...

CD PROJEKT RED

Senior Environment Artist

Boston, MA · On-site +1

Join CD PROJEKT RED as a Senior Environment Artist and play a pivotal role in the development of Cyberpunk 2. You will craft the future of atmospheric storytelling and serve as a key architect ...

Thatgamecompany

3D Environment Artist (Sky)

$60K/yr

As an Environment Artist, you will work with the Creative Director, Art Leads, Vis Dev Artists and other Environment Artists to create landscapes, spaces, and models for the world of Sky: Children of ...

CD PROJEKT RED

Senior Environment Artist

Boston, MA · On-site +1

$99K - $163K/yr

Join CD PROJEKT RED as a Senior Environment Artist and play a pivotal role in the development of Cyberpunk 2. You will craft the future of atmospheric storytelling and serve as a key architect ...

CD PROJEKT RED

Senior Environment Artist

Boston, MA · On-site

$99K - $163K/yr

Join CD PROJEKT RED as a Senior Environment Artist and play a pivotal role in the development of Cyberpunk 2. You will craft the future of atmospheric storytelling and serve as a key architect ...

Bonfire Studios, Inc

Lead Environment Artist

Irvine, CA · On-site

$174.80 - $221.82/hr

As a Lead Environment Artist, you'll guide our team in crafting the immersive world of Arkheron. This is a hands‑on leadership role where you'll set the artistic and technical standards for ...

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How much do environment artist jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 11, 2026, the average hourly pay for environment artist in the United States is $30.24, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $21.63 and $37.02 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as an environment artist, and why are they important?

To thrive as an Environment Artist, you need strong artistic abilities in 3D modeling, texturing, and a solid understanding of color, composition, and lighting, often supported by a degree in art, design, or a related field. Mastery of industry-standard tools such as Autodesk Maya, Blender, ZBrush, and Unreal Engine or Unity, as well as familiarity with PBR workflows, is typically required. Creativity, attention to detail, and strong collaboration and communication skills help you stand out in this role. These skills ensure the creation of immersive, visually compelling environments that enhance the overall quality and storytelling of games or films.

How does an environment artist typically collaborate with other departments during a game development project?

Environment Artists work closely with level designers, concept artists, and technical artists to ensure that the visual aspects of the game's world align with gameplay requirements and artistic vision. This collaboration often involves regular meetings to discuss level layouts, asset requirements, and optimization needs. Environment Artists may also coordinate with lighting artists and programmers to ensure environments are both visually appealing and technically efficient. Effective communication and teamwork are essential, as changes in design or gameplay can impact how environments are built or adjusted throughout development.

What is the difference between Environment Artist vs Environment Designer?

AspectEnvironment ArtistEnvironment Designer
CredentialsTypically requires a degree in art, 3D modeling, or related fieldOften requires a background in game design, art, or related discipline
Work EnvironmentWorks primarily in 3D modeling software, game engines, and art toolsFocuses on conceptualizing and designing environment layouts and gameplay spaces
Industry UsageCommonly employed in game development, film, and animationPrimarily used in game design, level creation, and interactive media

Environment Artists focus on creating detailed 3D models and textures for environments, while Environment Designers plan and conceptualize the layout and gameplay aspects of environments. Both roles are essential in game development but differ in their core responsibilities and skill sets.

What is an environment artist?

Environment artists are professionals in the video game, film, or animation industries who are responsible for creating the visual environments where the action takes place. They design and build landscapes, buildings, and props, ensuring that these elements fit the overall style and narrative of the project. Their work involves modeling, texturing, and lighting to produce immersive and believable worlds. Environment artists collaborate closely with other artists and designers to optimize assets for performance while maintaining visual quality.

What does an environment artist do?

An environment artist is a digital animator that creates background art, typically in the video game industry. As an environment artist, your duties center on creating the environment in which the video game characters exist. This can range from creating in-game props to designing the textures for the entire landscape of the game. However, the job usually focuses on the objects in the background as opposed to the background itself. While it’s possible to work on independent video games, larger game developers are much more likely to have the resources to hire designated environment artists. You may also find work on animated film and video projects. Qualifications for this career include extensive 3D modeling experience and excellent design and rendering software skills.

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Environment Artist jobs near you
Infographic showing various Environment Artist job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 77% Full Time, and 23% Contract. Highlights an 69% In-person, and 31% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $62,907 per year, or $30.2 per hour.

Principal Environment Artist

Epic Games

Cary, NC • On-site

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 12 days ago

Job description

WHAT MAKES US EPIC?
At the core of Epic's success are talented, passionate people. Epic prides itself on creating a collaborative, welcoming, and creative environment. Whether it's building award-winning games or crafting engine technology that enables others to make visually stunning interactive experiences, we're always innovating.
Being Epic means being a part of a team that continually strives to do right by our community and users. We're constantly innovating to raise the bar of engine and game development.
ART
What We Do
Push your artistic talent to the limit on a team of world-class environment, character and concept artists who strive to innovate and inspire.
What You'll Do
Epic Games is seeking a Principal Environment Artist to help define and elevate the visual quality of Fortnite's worlds. This role combines hands-on environment art production, artistic leadership, and technical problem-solving.
You will create benchmark-quality work, establish visual standards, develop scalable workflows, and solve complex artistic and technical challenges. Working closely with Art Direction, Technical Art, Design, Engineering, and Production, you will help align visual quality with gameplay, performance, memory, and production requirements while mentoring artists and advancing environment art practices across the project.
In this role, you will
  • Create benchmark-quality environment assets, materials, modular kits, and complete scenes that establish the visual quality bar for Fortnite
  • Establish and maintain environment art standards across composition, lighting, color, atmosphere, materials, visual storytelling, gameplay readability, and environmental polish
  • Develop and improve scalable environment art workflows that increase visual quality, consistency, production efficiency, and content reuse across the project
  • Partner with Technical Art and Engineering to develop content creation pipelines, and maintain environment art documentation, best practices, workflows, and quality standards
  • Identify and resolve complex artistic and technical problems while balancing visual quality, runtime performance, memory usage, platform requirements, and production schedules
  • Mentor artists across different experience levels by providing technical guidance, artistic critique, workflow support, and professional development
  • Evaluate emerging tools, technologies, and production techniques and recommend improvements that meaningfully advance the environment art team's capabilities
What we're looking for
  • Bachelor's degree or at least 10 years of progressive professional experience creating real-time 3D environments for commercially released video games
  • Professional experience creating production-ready environment assets, materials, modular kits, and complete real-time scenes
  • Preferably professional experience using Unreal Engine for environment world-building, PBR materials, lighting, content implementation, and optimization
  • Professional experience optimizing real-time environment content for performance, memory usage, visual quality, and multiple hardware platforms
  • Professional experience using a 3D content creation application such as Maya, 3ds Max, or Blender; texture-authoring software such as Substance Painter or Substance Designer; and image-editing software such as Photoshop or equivalent professional tools
  • Experience developing or improving environment art workflows, pipelines, documentation, or quality standards
  • Experience reviewing the work of other artists and providing actionable artistic and technical feedback
  • Experience mentoring or providing professional guidance to environment artists
  • Portfolio demonstrating professional environment artwork, including examples of 3D modeling, materials, composition, lighting, world-building, and completed real-time environments
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills and demonstrated experience collaborating with multidisciplinary development teams

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Experience developing large-scale worlds for a AAA, multiplayer, or continuously updated game
  • Experience with procedural environment creation, advanced material systems, shader workflows, terrain systems, or environment art tools
  • Experience establishing visual benchmarks and discipline-wide quality standards
  • Experience collaborating with external development partners or reviewing externally produced environment artwork
  • Experience delivering environment content across multiple platforms with different performance and memory constraints
EPIC JOB + EPIC BENEFITS = EPIC LIFE
Our intent is to cover all things that are medically necessary and improve the quality of life. We pay 100% of the premiums for both you and your dependents. Our coverage includes Medical, Dental, a Vision HRA, Long Term Disability, Life Insurance & a 401k with competitive match. We also offer a robust mental well-being program through Modern Health, which provides free therapy and coaching for employees & dependents. Throughout the year we celebrate our employees with events and company-wide paid breaks. We offer unlimited PTO and sick time and recognize individuals for 7 years of employment with a paid sabbatical.
ABOUT US
Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment company. For over 30 years we've been making award-winning games and engine technology that empowers others to make visually stunning games and 3D content that bring environments to life like never before. Epic's award-winning Unreal Engine technology not only provides game developers the ability to build high-fidelity, interactive experiences for PC, console, mobile, and VR, it is also a tool being embraced by content creators across a variety of industries such as media and entertainment, automotive, and architectural design. As we continue to build our Engine technology and develop remarkable games, we strive to build teams of world-class talent.
Like what you hear? Come be a part of something Epic!
Epic Games deeply values diverse teams and an inclusive work culture, and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. Learn more about our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy here.
Note to Recruitment Agencies: Epic does not accept any unsolicited resumes or approaches from any unauthorized third party (including recruitment or placement agencies) (i.e., a third party with whom we do not have a negotiated and validly executed agreement). We will not pay any fees to any unauthorized third party. Further details on these matters can be found here.

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