Senior II VFX Artist – STARCRAFT | Irvine, CA

Your Mission

Blizzard Entertainment is assembling a team to build the next chapter of STARCRAFT, returning to a universe forged in interstellar war. This mission offers something new: crafting an original story-driven, open-world shooter while honoring the legacy of one of Blizzard's most beloved games.

We are here to reignite this universe alongside you. We are here to make STARCRAFT, and it's about damn time.

We are looking for a Senior II VFX Artist to help craft this new game for Blizzard. As a key member of the development team, you will be responsible for delivering. As a key member of the development team, you will be responsible for defining, creating, and implementing high-impact real-time VFX that strengthen moment-to-moment gameplay, support visual clarity, and elevate the player experience. You are comfortable operating in a dynamic environment, navigating fluid deadlines and changing priorities with purpose.

This role offers a flexible hybrid work week, with a mix of remote and on-site days. While hybrid is the standard arrangement, you're also welcome to work on-site full-time if you prefer. Our primary studio location is in Irvine, California.

Responsibilities

Priorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Create, implement, and refine real-time VFX for gameplay, characters, environments, and player-facing feedback across a new StarCraft game

• Define visual and technical approaches for complex VFX work, balancing artistic quality, gameplay readability, performance, and maintainability.

• Partner with art, design, engineering, animation, audio, and production to align VFX execution with gameplay goals, technical constraints, and Blizzard quality standards.

• Prototype and validate VFX solutions in Unreal and related tools, then guide integration through established pipelines and engine workflows.

• Establish reusable VFX materials, systems, libraries, and documentation that support consistent implementation across the team.

• Identify risks, dependencies, and opportunities in VFX workflows, then propose practical solutions that improve quality and team efficiency.

• Provide craft guidance, feedback, and mentorship to VFX artists while helping raise the quality bar for the discipline.

• Collaborate with cross-functional partners to ensure VFX choices support player comprehension, emotional impact, and long-term game needs.

Minimum Requirements

Experience

• 12+ years of experience creating real-time VFX for games or interactive media, delivering complex features and systems from concept through implementation.

• Expert-level real-time VFX experience in Unreal Engine, Niagara, or equivalent tools and engines.

• Demonstrated success as a senior or principal individual contributor, defining visual direction, solving complex technical challenges, and influencing quality across teams.

• Strong portfolio showcasing high-quality real-time VFX work, including breakdowns that demonstrate artistic judgment, technical execution, and implementation ownership.

• Expert understanding of real-time VFX fundamentals, including timing, motion, color, composition, readability, player feedback, and gameplay support.

• Strong proficiency with procedural and systemic workflows.

• Advanced knowledge of optimization, profiling, scalability, memory management, and performance tradeoffs for real-time effects.

• Strong proficiency with industry-standard tools such as Houdini, Substance Designer/Painter, Photoshop, After Effects, Maya, or equivalent software.

• Demonstratable ability to author high-quality textures.

• A strong knowledge of authoring simulation/fluid/rbd data in various formats for real-time VFX.

• Experience collaborating effectively with art, design, engineering, animation, audio, and production teams throughout development.

• Experience developing and shipping content for PC and console platforms (Xbox, PlayStation, and/or equivalent).

• Proven ability to provide mentorship, technical guidance, and constructive feedback that elevates the work of other artists and teams.

• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate visual, technical, and gameplay goals into clear solutions and actionable plans.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently, prioritize effectively, adapt to changing needs, and contribute to an inclusive, collaborative team culture.

Extra Points

• Shipped one or more AAA games as a senior VFX artist.

• Experience developing VFX during early prototyping or pre-production phases.

• Built reusable VFX systems, pipelines, or technical standards.

• Experience working with outsourcing partners or distributed teams.

• Familiarity with adjacent disciplines such as technical art, lighting, animation, or gameplay design.

• Experience supporting action, RPG, open-world, or multiplayer gameplay experiences.

Submission/Portfolio Requirements

• Resume

• Portfolio with real-time VFX examples and breakdowns. Only online artwork submissions will be accepted (e.g. website, blog, or online album).

Your Platform

Best known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.

Our World

Activision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!

Our ability to build immersive and innovative worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!

The video game industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.