WE ARE GAME MAKERS
Who We Are:
At 31st Union, we are a diverse team of developers driven by a passion for our art, united by our core values and inspired by a culture of inclusivity to build amazing games that thrill players everywhere. We pursue growth and innovation in an environment of safety and trust. Our culture is built on the belief that the more varied voices in our collective will strengthen our team and our games. We are looking for our next teammate who will raise our bar and make us better.
For more information, visit our website at: thirtyfirstunion.com
What We Need:
As an Expert Character Concept Artist, you will be a key contributor to the development and evolution of our project’s character direction. You are an exceptional character designer and visual problem solver who can translate broad creative goals into compelling, production-ready designs.
Working closely with the creative team you will take on complex, high-impact character-development challenges and turn ambiguous creative problems into clear visual solutions. You will operate with a high degree of autonomy while remaining aligned with the project’s creative direction.
Through the quality of your work and collaboration, you will help raise the visual bar and reinforce the project’s character language. As a senior craft expert, you will provide feedback, mentorship, and examples that enable stronger work.
What You'll Do:
- Conceptualize and develop high-quality character designs from early exploration through production-ready assets (thumbnails, sketches, turnarounds, and supporting documentation).
- You break down problems and bring solutions by translating complex, ambiguous briefs into clear visual solutions that align with narrative, gameplay, and project-wide art direction.
- Define and uphold visual standards, contributing to style guides and reference materials to ensure consistent design quality.
- Partner with art and cross-discipline teams to balance visual goals with technical requirements and ensure concepts are effective for translation into 3D.
- Mentor other artists through thoughtful critique and example-setting while actively identifying opportunities to improve workflows and processes.
- Self-manage complex assignments and priorities, maintaining alignment with leadership while proactively identifying dependencies and risks.
What'll Make You A Great Fit:
- Typically 8+ years of professional concept art experience, with experience contributing to multiple shipped titles.
- An exceptional online portfolio demonstrating expert-level character design across exploratory development work and refined, production-ready concepts that should include development sketches and explorations alongside refined character designs.
- Expert knowledge of character development and costume design, with the ability to communicate personality, function, and story through visual design.
- Mastery of anatomy, proportion, gesture, silhouette, composition, perspective, lighting, color, materials, and visual storytelling.
- Demonstrated ability to solve complex visual design problems and produce thoughtful solutions.
- Ability to work within an established visual direction, identifying opportunities to strengthen the design and ability to stretch stylistically.
- Strong understanding of how concept art translates into 3D production and how to communicate design intent to downstream artists.
- Expert proficiency with industry-standard 2D concept-art tools and working knowledge of 3D-assisted workflows using Blender, ZBrush, Maya, AI Assisted workflows or equivalent.
- Proven ability to work independently, make sound craft decisions, manage complex assignments, collaborate effectively across disciplines, communicate clearly, and mentor other artists.
The pay range for this position in California at the start of employment is expected to be between $127,500 and $188,700 per year. However, base pay offered is based on market location, and may vary further depending on individualized factors for job candidates, such as job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and other objective business considerations.
Subject to those same considerations, the total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a bonus and/or equity awards and eligibility to participate in our 401(K) plan and Employee Stock Purchase Program.
Regular, full-time employees are also eligible for a range of benefits at the Company, including: medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance coverage; 14 paid holidays per calendar year; paid vacation time per calendar year (ranging from 15 to 25 days) or eligibility to participate in the Company’s discretionary time off program; up to 10 paid sick days per calendar year; paid parental and compassionate leave; wellbeing programs for mental health and other wellness support; family planning support through Maven; commuter benefits; and reimbursements for fitness-related expenses. Ontario only: The use of Artificial Intelligence is not being used to screen candidates. The position is for an existing vacancy.
#LI-Remote
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#LI-Hybrid
Skills Required
- Typically 8+ years of professional concept art experience
- Experience contributing to multiple shipped titles
- Exceptional online portfolio demonstrating expert-level character design, development sketches, explorations, and refined production-ready concepts
- Expert knowledge of character development and costume design
- Mastery of anatomy, proportion, gesture, silhouette, composition, perspective, lighting, color, materials, and visual storytelling
- Ability to solve complex visual design problems and produce thoughtful solutions
- Ability to work within established visual direction and stretch stylistically
- Strong understanding of translating concept art into 3D production and communicating design intent to downstream artists
- Expert proficiency with industry-standard 2D concept-art tools
- Working knowledge of Blender, ZBrush, Maya, AI-assisted workflows, or equivalent
- Ability to work independently, manage complex assignments, collaborate across disciplines, communicate clearly, and mentor artists
2K Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Healthcare Strength — Job postings consistently list medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, and mental‑health/wellbeing programs, indicating comprehensive coverage. Feedback suggests these offerings are a reliable cornerstone across roles even as other rewards vary by location.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Listings cite 14 paid holidays, 15–25 days of vacation or a discretionary time‑off program, up to 10 paid sick days, and paid parental and compassionate leave. Feedback suggests the breadth of time off compares favorably within games/tech.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — Employees can participate in a parent‑company Employee Stock Purchase Plan typically at a 15% discount, with some roles also eligible for equity. Feedback suggests the ESPP adds meaningful value to the total‑rewards package.
2K Insights
What We Do
2K is headquartered in Novato, California and is a wholly owned label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO). Founded in 2005, 2K Games is a global video game company, publishing titles developed by some of the most influential game development studios in the world. Our studios responsible for developing 2K’s portfolio of world-class games across multiple platforms, include Visual Concepts, Firaxis, Hangar 13, CatDaddy, Cloud Chamber, 31st Union, and HB Studios. Our portfolio of titles is expanding due to our global strategic plan, building and acquiring exciting studios whose content continues to inspire all of us! 2K publishes titles in today’s most popular gaming genres, including sports, shooters, action, role-playing, strategy, casual, and family entertainment. Our team of engineers, marketers, artists, writers, data scientists, producers, thinkers and doers, are the professional publishing stewards of our growing library of critically-acclaimed franchises such as NBA 2K, 2K PGA, Battleborn, BioShock, Borderlands, The Quarry, The Darkness, Mafia, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, WWE 2K, and XCOM. At 2K, we pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work! We encourage ALL applicants to explore our global positions, even if they don’t meet every requirement for the role. If you're interested in the job and think you have what it takes to work at 2K, we encourage you to apply!
Why Work With Us
We pride ourselves on creating an inclusive work environment, which means encouraging our teams to Come as You Are and do your best work! We push ourselves creatively to do the best work of our careers. We’re direct, open, and you’ll probably meet some new best friends – along with their dogs – sitting nearby. In short, it’s kinda awesome.
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2K Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
We are a blend of onsite, hybrid, and remote roles. Please refer to individual job descriptions for more details on location.
