Lead Character Artist - Console Games

Lead Character Artist – Console Games

Location: Pune, India

About Gamefuel Studio

Gamefuel Studio is a game development and co-development studio working with game developers and publishers across multiple platforms and genres. As we expand our capabilities in console game development and co-development, we are looking for an experienced Lead Character Artist who can create and oversee high-quality, production-ready characters for PC and console games.

About the Role

We are looking for a highly skilled and hands-on Lead Character Artist with strong experience creating realistic and stylized 3D characters for modern games. You will be responsible for taking characters from concept through final in-engine implementation while establishing and maintaining the visual and technical quality bar for character production. The ideal candidate combines exceptional artistic ability with a strong understanding of real-time character pipelines and console production constraints. This is a hands-on role. In addition to guiding other artists, you will be expected to create benchmark-quality character assets yourself and solve complex artistic and technical production challenges.

Key Responsibilities

1. Create high-quality, production-ready 3D characters for PC and console games.
2. Own the complete character-art pipeline from concept/reference through final in-engine implementation.
3. Establish visual benchmarks and quality standards for character production.
4. Provide artistic direction, feedback and mentorship to character artists.
5. Review character assets to ensure consistency with the project's established visual direction and technical requirements.
6. Work closely with Art Directors, Concept Artists, Animators, Technical Artists and Engineers.
7. Ensure characters deform and animate correctly by collaborating closely with rigging and animation teams.
8. Implement and validate character assets in Unreal Engine.
9. Optimise characters for real-time rendering while maintaining the required visual quality.
10. Troubleshoot character-related visual and technical issues in-engine.
11. Help define scalable character-production pipelines and workflows.
12. Estimate character-production effort and assist producers in planning and scheduling.
13. Work effectively with client teams, incorporating feedback while maintaining the agreed quality bar.

Must-Have Experience

1. 7+ years of professional experience in game character art, with experience operating at Senior or Lead level.
2. A strong portfolio demonstrating high-quality characters created for modern PC or console games.
3. Professional experience creating characters for real-time game engines.
4. Expert-level proficiency in ZBrush and strong experience with industry-standard 3D modelling tools such as Maya or 3ds Max.
5. Strong experience with Substance 3D Painter and modern PBR texturing workflows.
6. Excellent understanding of human anatomy, proportions, silhouette, form, clothing and material definition.
7. Strong understanding of game-ready topology, UVs, baking, LOD creation and optimisation.
8. Experience creating characters within polygon, texture and memory budgets appropriate for real-time games.
9. Strong understanding of how character assets interact with rigging, skinning and animation systems.
10. Experience implementing and reviewing character assets in Unreal Engine.
11. Ability to create benchmark-quality assets while also providing effective feedback and direction to other artists.
12. Ability to analyse references and concept art and translate them into compelling 3D characters.
13. Strong communication and problem-solving skills.
14. Console Experience
15. We are particularly interested in artists who have contributed to commercially shipped console titles.
16. Candidates with direct experience working on games released for PlayStation and/or Xbox will be strongly preferred.

You should be able to clearly explain:

1. The titles and platforms you worked on
2. Your individual contribution to character production
3. Character specifications and technical constraints you worked within
4. How characters were optimised for target hardware
5. How you collaborated with Technical Art, Rigging and Animation teams
6. Challenges encountered during production and how they were resolved

Good to Have

1. One or more commercially shipped PlayStation or Xbox titles.
2. Experience working on AAA or comparable high-fidelity game productions.
3. Strong experience with Unreal Engine 5.
4. Experience with MetaHuman workflows.
5. Experience with realistic hair and grooming pipelines.
6. Experience with Marvelous Designer.
7. Experience with scan-based character workflows and photogrammetry.
8. Experience with facial modelling, blendshapes and facial-animation requirements.
9. Understanding of shaders and character-material setups.
10. Experience working with proprietary or custom game engines.
11. Experience developing characters across different visual styles, from realistic to stylized.
12. Previous experience in a game-development services, co-development or outsourcing environment.

Leadership Expectations

1. As a Lead Character Artist, you will be expected to:
2. Establish and maintain the quality bar for character art.
3. Translate Art Direction into clear and actionable guidance for the character team.
4. Review work and provide constructive, technically informed feedback.
5. Identify artistic and technical risks early in production.
6. Help break down character requirements into achievable production tasks.
7. Mentor artists and help improve the overall capability of the team.
8. Balance visual ambition against production schedules and technical constraints.
9. Communicate effectively with both internal teams and client stakeholders.
10. What We Are Specifically Looking For
11. We are not looking for a lead who has moved completely away from hands-on production.
12. The ideal candidate should still be capable of personally creating a hero-quality character from start to finish, while simultaneously guiding other artists and maintaining quality across the project.
13. We are looking for someone who understands that console-quality character art is not just about producing an impressive sculpt—it requires balancing artistic quality, topology, materials, deformation, performance, memory and in-engine presentation.
14. Candidates should be prepared to discuss their portfolio in detail and clearly identify their individual contribution to each showcased project.

Portfolio Requirement

1. A portfolio is mandatory for this position.
2. Please include examples of your strongest character work along with, wherever possible:
3. High-resolution sculpts
4. Wireframes/topology
5. Texture and material breakdowns
6. Final real-time/in-engine renders
7. Hair/grooming work
8. LOD or optimisation examples
9. Shipped-game examples
10. A clear description of your individual contribution to each asset

Why Join Gamefuel

1. This is an opportunity to play an important role in expanding Gamefuel Studio's console and high-end game development capabilities.
2. You will work on varied game projects, collaborate with experienced development teams, establish quality standards for character production and help build a strong character-art capability within Gamefuel.