A snapshot of your role:
- Develop and maintain a robust foliage pipeline, supporting everything from trees and small plants to wind, player interaction, and disturbance effects.
- Create and optimize foliage materials using Unreal Engine’s shading graphs, Maya, or HLSL, with a focus on performance and visual fidelity.
- Integrate dynamic weather effects (wind, rain, snow) into vegetation systems for realistic environmental interactions.
- Optimize foliage and biome assets, managing LODs, poly counts, shader complexity, and overall performance to ensure smooth gameplay experiences.
- Drive biome generation and terrain authoring using procedural tools like Houdini and UE5’s PCG system.
- Leverage UE5’s Nanite technology for high-quality, optimized foliage.
- Work closely with tech artists, graphics engineers, environment artists, and designers to ensure cohesive integration of procedural assets into the game.
- Identify technical challenges, proactively develop solutions, and adapt to evolving project needs in a highly collaborative environment.
Sound like you? This is what we’re looking for:
- 5+ years of experience in a technical art role in the games industry, with a solid understanding of environment art and procedural content generation.
- UE5 experience is highly desirable, especially with Nanite and procedural content workflows, however we would consider candidates with AAA expertise working with custom engines.
- Proven experience with foliage pipelines and vegetation systems in game development, including material authoring and weather FX integration.
- Experience with SpeedTree, Houdini, or similar procedural tools for environment creation.
- Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to think constructively while adapting to new challenges in a dynamic environment.
- Proven ability to work autonomously with minimal supervision, while also collaborating effectively within cross-functional teams.
Nice-to-haves:
- Experience with biome generation and large-scale procedural environment creation.
- Strong understanding of performance optimization techniques for foliage and environment assets.
- Familiarity with other game engines or custom procedural tools is a plus.
And here is why we think you’ll love working at SkyBox Labs:
- Annual bonus and up to 3% RRSP matching available
- Comprehensive health benefits, along with a supportive Parental Leave policy
- Flexible hybrid working arrangements: leverage our beautiful studio spaces as needed, and use our $400 work-from-home allowance to make your home office comfortable
- Take care of your mental health with our Employee Assistance Program, 3 weeks of vacation leave, and our free gym at our Burnaby Studio
- We relentlessly support your growth and development! Level up your C++ skills at SkyBox University, explore other disciplines through our Guild Program, and expand your game dev knowledge with Lunch & Learns. You’ll join a culture of empowerment, collaboration, and personal growth.
- Social events! Have fun with the team at trivia nights, karaoke nights, movie nights, and various group activities. Join our soccer team, game jams, or a board game sesh after work. You name it, we’ve got it!
- Get involved with our diverse community through Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that champion Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives and promote a supportive environment
- You’ll contribute to industry-leading titles, from legendary AAA franchises to Original IP
The base salary range is $107,000 – $147,000. The stated pay scale reflects the range that SkyBox Labs reasonably expects to pay for this position. Your base salary will be determined by various factors including, but not limited to, qualifications, skills, and experience.
Please note, only those who submit a portfolio or reel showcasing relevant work will be considered for the role.