Full-Time

Technical Artist

Posted on 4/18/2024

Bonfire Studios

Bonfire Studios

51-200 employees

Independent game developer creating immersive experiences

Compensation Overview

$155.4k - $249.9k/yr

+ Equity + Comprehensive Benefits Package

Senior, Expert

Irvine, CA, USA

Hybrid position requiring in-office presence.

Category
Character Design
Animation
Visual Effects (VFX)
Art, Graphics & Animation
Required Skills
UI/UX Design
Animation
Unity
Requirements
  • 5+ years of experience as a technical artist in games.
  • Experience developing and evolving game art pipelines and tools (Maya and Unity).
  • Strong technical skills, including experience with scripting languages like Python and UI frameworks like Qt.
  • Proven experience creating character rigs and procedural animations, and familiarity with rigging, skinning, and animation techniques.
  • Experience with real-time rendering concepts like writing shaders and monitoring graphics performance, and proficiency in C# programming for developing efficient and maintainable game tools and functionalities.
Responsibilities
  • Develop and maintain tools and pipelines in Maya and Unity to optimize artist workflows and asset creation.
  • Proactively identify and implement solutions to empower artists through technology and process improvements.
  • Partner with artists, designers, and engineers to define and implement efficient asset creation workflows.
  • Create character rigs and procedural animation using Maya and Unity. Collaborate with animators to iterate on character design and bring characters to life through rigging, skinning, and animation techniques.
  • Help design and develop DCC & Unity tools and technology to support artistic vision.

Bonfire Studios creates immersive video games that focus on adventure, exploration, and social interaction among players. Their games are designed to provide high-quality, story-driven experiences that appeal to a wide range of gamers, from casual players to dedicated enthusiasts. Unlike many competitors, Bonfire Studios develops unique intellectual properties from scratch, which helps them build a strong brand and a loyal customer base. Their revenue comes from game sales, in-game purchases, and potential licensing of their IP for merchandise or media adaptations. The company also prioritizes a positive work environment, which aids in attracting and retaining talented individuals in the competitive gaming industry. Overall, Bonfire Studios aims to foster a dedicated player community and create legendary gaming experiences.

Company Size

51-200

Company Stage

Late Stage VC

Total Funding

$25M

Headquarters

Irvine, California

Founded

2016

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Increased interest in PvP games aligns with Arkheron's gameplay focus.
  • Dark fantasy themes are trending, potentially attracting a dedicated fanbase for Arkheron.
  • Private playtesting allows Bonfire Studios to refine Arkheron with community feedback.

What critics are saying

  • Arkheron's six-year development cycle risks the game being outdated at launch.
  • PvP focus may limit Arkheron's appeal to players preferring single-player experiences.
  • Technical challenges in networking architecture could delay Arkheron's further development.

What makes Bonfire Studios unique

  • Bonfire Studios creates unique IPs, building strong brand loyalty among players.
  • The company focuses on immersive, story-driven experiences that foster player fellowship.
  • Bonfire Studios' debut game, Arkheron, features innovative PvP mechanics and dark fantasy themes.

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Benefits

Company Equity

Hybrid Work Options

Flexible Work Hours

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

-1%

1 year growth

2%

2 year growth

0%
VentureBeat
Jan 15th, 2025
Bonfire Studios Announces Debut Game Arkheron After 8 Years — Exclusive

Bonfire Studios, an independent video game developer started by Rob Pardo and other game veterans in 2016, is finally coming out of stealth mode, unveiling its debut project Arkheron.Founded by industry veterans responsible for iconic franchises including Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft and World of Warcraft, the Bonfire team draws on the expertise and design principles honed on those titles to craft an innovative new player-versus-player (PvP) game, said Rob Pardo, CEO of Irvine, California-based Bonfire Studios, in an exclusive interview with GamesBeat.Private playtesting for Arkheron is already underway and will be expanding in the coming months with rolling invites. Players who love fast-paced player-versus-player (PvP) combat are encouraged to sign up now for a chance to be among the first to play Arkheron and help shape its later stages of development.I asked Pardo if the team had spent eight years making the game so far, but he noted that it took about 1.5 years to build the studio and do the prototyping to find the fun. The real work on Arkheron itself began in 2018 and even then it involved a lot of continuous gameplay testing to get it right. And so the game has been in the works roughly six years.“We have been thrown curve balls,” Pardo said. “We didn’t expect to be in mid-development when a global pandemic hit.”As an example of a curve ball, the team had to spend about nine months making a backend architecture for the networking to accommodate the type of combat it wanted to have.The dark fantasy art of Arkheron.We’re not sure what that means yet as Bonfire is slowly revealing the game. The company has been playing and iterating on Arkheron behind-the-scenes for years and began private playtesting sessions with a small community in 2024

INACTIVE