Video Game Artist: Description, Salary, How to Become

Video game artists create all the visuals in a game. Most game artists specialize in one type of game art, such as concept art, UI/UX, or 3D modeling, but have some background experience in other forms.

Before choosing between the many game artist specializations, work on building up fundamental art skills—initially by experimenting with free online tools. After gaining some experience, many artists move on to more formalized course work in their subdiscipline. Once their portfolio is ready, artists can begin applying for available roles through large online job databases and game industry-specific ones.

What is a game artist?

A game artist is anyone who creates 2D/3D art and/or animation for a game or feature. Visual elements in every video game need to fit seamlessly with each other to hold the player’s immersion. Game art comes in many forms, so game artists have an equally large number of subdisciplines to choose from. Concept art, UI/UX design, character modeling, and texture creation are just some of the available options. Look at the number of artwork-related design choices that went into this single frame of Bioshock.

There are no restrictions preventing an artist from working in multiple subdisciplines of game art. Game artist design roles vary greatly from one studio or project to another. Every game needs artwork, so game artists are free to specialize in as many or few subdisciplines as they wish. Gaining a wider range of secondary game art skills is challenging, but opens up more job options and provides greater career stability in return.

2D artwork is mainly created by illustrators and concept artists. 3D artwork often carries additional layers of complexity, which can lead to more granular, specialized roles. Riggers, for instance, focus on creating the skeletal structure for a 3D model that lays out its movement options. Texture artists have a completely different job: designing the surface artwork that’s layered onto interactable models, shapes, and background objects.

Game artists also have to take into account gameplay, narrative, and other non-artistic constraints on their work. Game art design tends to mean working with multiple departments frequently, which is helpful for those working toward future lead/director roles.

Concept artists depict a concept iteratively, taking into account both the feature to be explained and the player’s desired emotional response. 3D character artists, in contrast, have to ensure the technical accuracy of their models and textures. Both roles involve artistry and subjectivity, but concept artists help establish the mood and visual theme of the game, while 3D modelers translate those aspects into the actual game-ready models. The full process of moving from concept art to the final 3D model render in Sort Express is shown below.

Studios each have their own expectations for 3D modeling roles. Character modelers are sometimes given more artistic license to turn the concept art into their own vision for the in-game 3D model. Other studios expect the 3D character artist to replicate the initial concept one-to-one, with a clear understanding of how the final artwork must look.

What is the average salary of a game artist?

The average salary of a game artist ranges from roughly $45,000 to $140,000. Game artist salaries are heavily influenced by the role’s specific tasks, seniority level, and location, on top of each individual studio’s policies.

The table below based on data from Zippia ranks the average game artist salaries across each US state, taking into account factors like the relative saturation of higher-paying senior roles.

Keep in mind that the average isn’t everything. California has a relatively high average salary as well as a consistently high number of job openings, for instance. Delaware, in contrast, has a much smaller number of relatively high-paying game artist jobs. Interactive designers, animators, and other more technical game art roles earn the most on average. These roles tend to come with more extensive educational requirements.

Where to find 2D and 3D game artist jobs?

Find 2D and 3D game artist jobs on both wide-reaching career sites like LinkedIn and game industry-specific job boards like Hitmarker. Start by searching the largest job databases, especially LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor. All three share many game industry positions on a regular basis. Learn the specific search terms within each subdiscipline to find relevant job posts more easily. Below is an example job post for a Senior Concept Artist role.

Check game industry-specific career sites next. Games Jobs Direct, Hitmarker, XP Game Jobs, Gamejobs.work, and Gamejobs.co are among the largest gaming-specific job databases. The vast majority of AAA studio positions and other roles related to well-known games are posted on at least one of these sites. WorkWithIndies exclusively sources jobs at indie and smaller studios, so many of their postings don’t appear in the wider-reaching databases. ArtStation and CreativeHeads specialize in VFX, animation, and other game art roles.

Freelance job sites are helpful resources for game artists. Freelance-focused platforms tend to have shorter-term jobs with fewer entry requirements, making them extremely useful in the early stages of a game artist’s career. Sites like Upwork, Remote Rocketship, and Freelancer are valuable sources of remote game art work, both for beginners who need experience and artistic nomads with plenty of it.

Remote Game Jobs segments out only the remote-friendly game artist roles, making it a critical resource for location-locked beginner artists. Note that most studios expect game artists to spend at least some time in the physical office, though. It’s much easier to nitpick over the tiny details in person.

How to become a game artist?

To become a game artist, experiment with different types of artwork, socialize at industry networking events, enroll in visual design programs, and create a portfolio that highlights only the best game art samples. Gain experience by practicing individually first. Just make something! Since game artists’ work is so visual, it’s critical to offer tons of artwork examples as evidence of an artist’s abilities. Not every one will be a masterpiece, but making art for games is an iterative process, too. Practice expands an artist’s skill set, generates more samples to show off those skills, and improves their self-confidence along the way.

Join networking events, learning programs, and visual art internships to get valuable feedback. Working with other game dev departments is a critical part of being a game artist. Social events teach game artists more about other facets of the industry and the challenges of working alongside them. Each connections may lead to future opportunities, but if not, it’s always valuable for game artists to expand their social sphere further into the industry. Peet Cooper goes over the most common mistakes for prospective game artists to avoid below.

Study visual design programs in college or university after practicing enough to at least learn the basics. Take a healthy variety of visual design courses to explore all the options within game art design. This is the time to experiment and think about where to specialize. Consider whether 2D or 3D art design is more appealing. Studying both will give any artist a better grasp of the fundamentals, but most will find themselves leaning toward one part of the field or another. There are even artists who work successfully in studios without a specific degree, but having one never hurts.

Collect all the game artwork samples created individually and through any courses into a visual portfolio. Game artists need resumes, too, but a detailed portfolio showing off everything one is capable of tends to matter more to most studios. Evaluating a game’s overall design can be subjective and abstract, but the team likely already knows how the in-game artwork has to look. Below is just one of the many ways to arrange a game art portfolio.

Developers are looking for indisputable proof that the game artist can follow their vision. Likewise, recruiters comparing many portfolios tend to hone in on mistakes, so make sure only the absolute best work makes it into the final portfolio. And don’t neglect social media—it’s still one of the best tools for drawing attention to an artist’s work.

What are the requirements to be a game artist?

The requirements to be a game artist are decided on a studio to studio basis. Many studios prefer artists to have a visual design degree, but degrees are rarely if ever listed as mandatory requirements. Likewise, there are no set requirements differentiating 2D from 3D game artist jobs. Putting together an impressive, varied portfolio is more important, since it’s an immediate proof of concept.

The increasingly competitive nature of the game industry has also made it more difficult for artists to find job openings or obtain recognition for their work. Understanding which portfolios stand out from the competition is more important than ever. The Crystal City student portfolio below demonstrates the use of a visually appealing layout to highlight the game’s key features.

Studios that have been using the same software for years might prioritize artists more proficient in it. No studio would expect a concept artist to know 3D design software like Autodesk Maya, though. Check recent job postings and note which software and skills are the most requested right now. Design tools change and are replaced over time, so a mix of flexibility and specialization is ideal.

Higher-level game artist jobs typically demand more years of experience. Keep in mind that not all visual design experience is equally valuable to each studio. Having 3 years of concept art experience and 2 years of 3D modeling does not equal five years of total relevant experience. A game artist is considered a junior the first 1-2 years of their career. After 5-7 years, they’re considered a senior game art designer.

Can you be both a 2D and 3D game artist?

Yes, you can be both a 2D and 3D game artist! The main obstacles to simultaneously pursuing 2D and 3D game art design are time and competition. To build a career in both at once, an artist needs several years of experience with each specialization. Chances are that another applicant has spent most of their time creating one specific kind of artwork. Their more specialized portfolio likely has more samples demonstrating any unspoken subtleties the studio is looking for. Daniel Orive is one example—his 2D and 3D artwork are below.

With AAA studios and games, this is rare. Game artists with wide-ranging skill sets in AAA studios tend to end up on the director track instead. With indie studios, game artists’ work tends to be less specialized, given the smaller team size and relative lack of stricter top-down management styles. In short, becoming a 2D+3D game artist expands one’s skill set and opens them up to further opportunities, but requires a greater time investment to stay competitive with more specialized artists.