Naughty Dog and Sony Computer Entertainment delayed the release of Uncharted 4: A thief's End to Spring 2016, but this doesn't mean that they're taking it easy. Now that the game's production entered its final year, the studio is hiring.

It's actually quite rare for ND to post new career opportunity ads, but this month they published four new ones, three of which aiming to strengthen the Environment team, which isn't that surprising, considering how complex and varied Uncharted environments normally are.

The first three ads seek a Environment Texture Artist / Hi-Res Surface Sculptor, an Environment Concept Artist and a temporary Junior Environment Concept Artist.

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Environment Texture Artist / Hi-Res Surface Sculptor

Responsibilities:

  • Sculpt and paint textures required for rendering physically based game environments
  • Construct shaders using a proprietary in-house material editor
  • UV layout for tiling and 0-1 mapped textures
  • Match art styles defined by the art director/concept art
  • Collaborate closely with 3D modelers and game designers
  • Work with graphics programmers and technical artists to support the development of new systems and techniques
  • Work with the tools team to convey your needs and generate tool requests intended to improve artists’ workflow
  • Manage texture and shader efficiency

Requirements and Skills:

  • Strong traditional drawing/painting skills
  • Ability to sculpt and paint highly detailed 3D and 2D images
  • Proficient at sculpting surface details and controlling shader features that represent a wide variety of material types
  • Ability to create proper UV layout and tiling textures for games
  • Working experience with shader networks
  • Working experience with baking textures from high res meshes
  • Strong Maya skills
  • Strong Zbrush skills
  • A solid understanding of procedural texturing techniques

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Environment Concept Artist

Responsibilities:

  • Demonstrate a broad range of excellent drawing and design abilities.
  • Demonstrate complete mastery of game development software tools needed for concept creation.
  • Collaborates effectively with art leads during review sessions which results in the finest artistic look possible.
  • Meets project deadlines / milestones, as set by project leads
  • Consistently exercises sound judgment in all areas of expertise

Requirements and Skills: 

  • A demo portfolio demonstrating excellent drawing and design skills
  • Work must clearly demonstrate exceptional ability in the areas of artistic, stylistic and versatility
  • BFA or equivalent game development experience strongly preferrred
  • Fine art skills, drawing and painting, lighting and color
  • 3 years of professional experience working as a concept artist in computer gaming or related field
  • Proficiency working in Photoshop
  • Basic knowledge of 3D programs (Maya/Modo)
  • Excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills
  • Must be receptive to art direction and perform well within a team setting
  • Must be responsive to schedules and work well under pressure

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Junior Environment Concept Artist (Temporary Assignment)

This position is for a temporary engagement through our staffing partner Yoh Services.

Responsibilities:

  • Demonstrate a broad range of excellent drawing and design abilities.
  • Collaborates effectively with art leads during review sessions which results in the finest artistic look possible.
  • Meets project deadlines / milestones, as set by project leads

Requirements and Skills: 

  • A demo portfolio demonstrating excellent drawing and design skills
  • Work must clearly demonstrate exceptional ability in the areas of artistic, stylistic and versatility
  • Fine art skills, drawing and painting, lighting and color
  • Proficiency working in Photoshop
  • Excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills
  • Must be receptive to art direction and perform well within a team setting
  • Must be responsive to schedules and work well under pressure

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Interestingly, the last ad above does not require previous experience, so if you're an artist aiming to break into the gaming industry as part of one of the most renowned studios, you might want to give it a try.

If you lack experience and can't even draw a stick man, there's still a chance in the most classic entry level field of game development, doing play testing.

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Quality Assurance Tester (Temporary Assignment)

This position is for a temporary engagement through our staffing partner Yoh Services.

Responsibilities and Requirements:

  • A desire to be part of the Naughty Dog Kennel
  • Eager to identify, investigate, and report bugs
  • Willing to work directly with other disciplines in the development environment
  • Able to communicate issues in a clear and concise manner
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Able to understand and execute test plans with an eye for detail
  • Flexible and adaptive to assignment and schedule changes, including overtime
  • Able to test for extended stretches of time while staying focused on the task at hand
  • Demonstrable skillset beyond just bug entry and documentation

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Previous testing experience preferred, but not required
  • Applicants without prior testing experience should display detailed knowledge of PS3/PS4
  • Working knowledge of game development pipeline
  • Clearly defined desire for career in game development
  • Understanding of programming languages, creation of digital art, and/or basic game design concepts
  • Formal post-high school education (college, technical school, etc.)
  • Foreign language skills a plus.  We are particularly interested in candidates who are fluent in Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Cantonese, Castilian Spanish, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Québécois French, Russian, Spanish (Latin American), Swedish, or Turkish.

Cover letters must be attached with resume when applying for this position.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States for this position.

This is a full time TEMPORARY position with overtime hours expected at various times during the project cycle. Local candidates are preferred but not required (make sure you can commute to Santa Monica, California on a daily basis).

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If working at Naughty Dog has always been your dream, you're confident in your skills, you live close to Santa Monica and a lot of hard work doesn't scare you, it might be time to get that cover letter and resume ready.