Principal Character Artist - Infinity Ward

Job Title:

Principal Character Artist - Infinity Ward

Requisition ID:

R027886

Job Description:

Your Mission

Come work with the team behind Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® and Call of Duty®: Warzone™. Infinity Ward is seeking an experienced Principal Character Artist to help define and deliver world-class character experiences for one of the industry's most iconic franchises. In this role, you will create high-fidelity, photorealistic characters while driving artistic excellence, mentoring fellow artists, and helping shape character art pipelines and best practices across the studio.

The ideal candidate is a highly skilled character artist with deep expertise in realistic character creation, a passion for authenticity, and a proven track record shipping AAA console or PC titles.

This role is based in our Woodland Hills office and follows an onsite work schedule of Monday through Friday. Work arrangements may change at the company’s discretion to meet business needs.

What You'll Do

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

• Partner with Art Directors, Producers, Animators, and Technical Artists to deliver high-quality character assets that support immersive player experiences.
• Create compelling, realistic characters, clothing, gear, and accessories that meet quality, performance, and scalability requirements.
• Research and apply extensive knowledge of military uniforms, equipment, and tactical gear to ensure authenticity and attention to detail.
• Independently execute high-level creative direction while proactively identifying solutions and opportunities for improvement.
• Serve as a quality champion and trusted expert for character art performance, efficiency, and visual fidelity.
• Mentor and support fellow artists through constructive feedback, collaboration, and knowledge sharing.
• Advocate for best practices, pipeline improvements, and workflow efficiencies across character art production.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure art goals, technical requirements, and production plans are clearly understood and executed.
• Contribute innovative ideas and creative solutions throughout game development.

Player Profile

Required Qualifications

• 15+ years of professional experience as a Character Artist in game development, with a strong emphasis on realistic character creation.
• Exceptional portfolio demonstrating expertise in photorealistic character art, including organic and hard-surface modeling, clothing, equipment, materials, and texturing.
• Experience shipping AAA console and/or PC titles, ideally within the first-person shooter genre.
• Advanced proficiency with industry-standard tools such as Maya or 3ds Max, ZBrush, Photoshop, and Substance Painter/Designer.
• Deep understanding of game art pipelines, real-time production workflows, and modern game engines.
• Strong knowledge of human anatomy, clothing construction, form, silhouette, and proportion.
• Expert understanding of Physically Based Rendering (PBR) workflows and rendering techniques.
• Experience creating assets for modern console and PC platforms.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to thrive in a highly collaborative, fast-paced, and evolving development environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with scan-based character creation workflows and photogrammetry technologies.
• Strong understanding of contemporary game art trends and visual storytelling.
• Experience contributing to or defining character art standards, pipelines, and production processes.
• Previous leadership, mentorship, or principal-level experience within a AAA development environment.

About Infinity Ward

Founded in 2002, Infinity Ward is the original studio behind the Call of Duty® franchise. The titles developed by Infinity Ward have won more than 200 "Game of the Year" awards and 100 "Editor's Choice" awards, among many other industry accolades. Some of our previous titles include: Call of Duty®: Ghosts, Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare and most recently, Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare. Infinity Ward employs more than 250 people in Woodland Hills, Calif., just outside of Los Angeles.

A critically acclaimed studio, Infinity Ward is proud to have one of the hardest-working and versatile development teams in the industry.  We love to have as much fun as the games we create, and it shows in our relaxed, yet diligent, workplace environment.  We believe that making the best games relies on having the best people, so we like to look after ours. We enjoy having fun with top-notch events that everyone gets involved with.

Infinity Ward is wholly owned by Activision. To learn more about our studio, please visit us at https://www.infinityward.com/, on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/InfinityWard/, and @InfinityWard on X.

Our World

At Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We’re driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™, and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our “press start” is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences. 

We’re not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we’re forging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization.  

We’re in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater — this could be your opportunity to level up.  

Ready to Activate Your Future?  

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.   

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.  

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to candidate-accommodations@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest. 

Rewards

We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!  Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:

• Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;
• 401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;
• Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;
• Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;
• If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.

Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company.  You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/.

In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $136,880.00 - $253,260.00 Annual. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable.