Concept art and 2D asset development for multiple independent games

We’re a 16-year-old game studio seeking a versatile 2D artist (3D is a plus) to collaborate on multiple high-resolution game projects. Most work is concept art, sometimes extending to polished final assets. You should have professional-level 2D skills (digital painting, photobashing), be comfortable with both characters and environments, and adapt to varied styles and themes, from realistic sci-fi/fantasy to stylized or surreal.

Our process values structured research, strong reference usage, and the ability to balance archetypal clarity with fresh, creative twists. You’ll work through stages like research, quick sketches, thumbnails, and different fidelity levels, prioritizing efficiency and iteration. Feedback is constant: you’ll collaborate closely with an Art Director juggling client needs, genre tropes, marketing, production, and story.

You must handle multiple projects and rapid context-switching. AI use is rarely allowed and only with explicit authorization and full transparency.

Apply with your proposal and portfolio link.

• We are looking for an artist to collaborate with us on multiple high resolution 2D games (and optionally 3D, if you have the skills)! The jobs are primarily concept art, but can also include polished final 2D (and optionally 3D) assets.
• We are a 16-year-old game studio working both in our own games and providing full-service support to independent developers and game studios around the world. Clients often hire us to help bring their entire game project to a professional level: product strategy, marketing, production plan, narrative, gameplay, art and animation. The artwork we need comes from that context.
• Top qualities we seek:
• - Professional-level skill with 2D workflows (digital painting, photobashing etc)
• - Style and theme versatility (jobs are often sci-fi or fantasy, but can go in very different directions too; the most common style is realistic-ish, but can sometimes be some cool videogame-style cartoon, surreal, or other types of stylization)
• - Organized with research and references. For many clients we need to represent settings in an archetypal, highly recognizable way - which involves identifying the constituting elements to make the archetype recognizable. For others, we must create something new while still embracing aspects (colors, materials, shape language) that we subconsciously associate with adjacent concepts. For example, some fantasy fire people might be 100% made up, but still have their designs informed by volcanic regions, primitive ovens or other adjacent elements. We greatly value organized reference research that results in creative interpretations that can be 90% archetypal and 10% new, or 10%/90%, or (more often) somewhere in-between.
• - Experience with different stages and fidelity levels for concept art. Our process often includes research, fast sketches to try shapes and concepts, thumbnails for value, composition and colors, and different levels of fidelity for the final art, as per clients' needs. Efficiency is essential to respect our clients' investment, so we start with the fastest form that gets the job done and gradually move up to higher-fidelity representations
• - Comfortable with both characters and environments (we'll be scanning your portfolio and submission for both)
• - Extremely open to feedback and iteration - you'll be working with an Art Director that will reconcile needs coming from client requests, game-genre-specific tropes, marketing and production needs, story fit and others. You must be more attached to the process than the outcome, as the final result will often come from the collaboration with that art director and the client, which will be looking out for needs other than just aesthetic preference
• - Ability to jump between completely different projects. Our focus on efficiency means we often do initial research and early sketches for a client needing a crazy, funny cartoonish character, then go grab a cup of coffee and, when we return, work on a gritty, realistic dark fantasy environment piece. Jobs need you to submit for revision often and at different stages, and there are often multiple projects going on at once.
• Regarding AI usage: in 90% of the cases it should NOT be used - AI still sucks at the DESIGN aspects of the job (smart references, general coherence etc), and that's one of the main things we deliver. As visual artists, we have the same mixed feelings as everyone else, and are carving our own path on how to deal with it. Some clients have hard rules against AI. In some cases, clients authorize or request it to be used to accelerate certain deliverables, and we use a hybrid approach (paint over) to work around some of the worst aspects. To stay compliant and truthful to our clients, you need authorization to use AI for any design, and even then we need full transparency if / when / where it's used. Again: the vast majority of the jobs should be 0% AI.
• If you think you fit the bill, we'll be thrilled to review your proposal and maybe work with you!
• If we work well together, this has the opportunity to develop into a long-term professional relationship, as was the case with previous artists!
• The attached images show some of the deliverables we often produce at different stages - and will need your help with!
• If you would like to work with us, please send us your proposal as well as A WAY TO CHECK YOUR PORTFOLIO (ideally highlighting art that better matches what we’re looking for) and we’ll be happy to review it!