Jobs / United States / Riot Games INC
Principal 3D Character Artist - Unpublished R&D Product
Riot Games INC · 🇺🇸 Los Angeles, USA
Sponsorship verdict
Sponsorship possible
One solid signal, not two — worth applying, and worth asking about sponsorship early.
- Employer is on a government sponsor recordThe US Department of Labor certified 64 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 33 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
- The posting doesn’t mention sponsorshipSilence isn’t a refusal — ask the recruiter before investing much time.
- No salary bar for this routeH-1B has no fixed salary bar: the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and area. Cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level. Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b, rules effective 2026-02-27.
- What Riot Games INC paid sponsored hires in similar roles5 certified filings for “3D Character Artist” (Web and Digital Interface Designers) in CA: $90k–$147k, median $147k. Most were filed at wage level IV (60%) — 4 lottery entries, ≈61% projected selection odds for cap-subject employers. Source: US Department of Labor LCA disclosure data (Oct 2025 – Jun 2026).
- Confirmed live todayWhen a source last listed this job as open.
US H-1B: cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level — Level I gets 1 entry, Level IV gets 4 (DHS projected selection odds ≈15% at Level I to ≈61% at Level IV). Universities and non-profit research employers are cap-exempt. The $100,000 fee for new petitions from abroad is currently blocked by a court order (appeal pending).
A verdict summarises public evidence; it is not legal advice and never a guarantee — the employer and the immigration authority decide. Sign in to factor in where you can already work.
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Sponsor Radar — Riot Games INC
The US Department of Labor certified 64 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 33 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
Past sponsorship or register membership never guarantees sponsorship for this vacancy or for you. Full Sponsor Radar for Riot Games INC →
About the role
As a Principal 3D Character Artist at Riot, you will bring characters to life by crafting and texturing high fidelity models. You will help build some of the most iconic characters and cosmetics in the world of gaming. Your sculpting and texturing skills, artistic eye, and understanding of anatomy, form, and color will make you one of our key style advocates for the game you’re working on. Working within both technical and design constraints, you will use your knowledge of proportions, anatomy and readability to ensure models are optimized in game. You'll be self-guided and help raise the bar for character art at Riot. You will be a mentor to other character artists and support the upholding and sometimes creation of style guides. Your craft expertise and high-level execution will enrich the player’s immersive experience. As a Principal 3D Character Artist within the Research & Development team, you’ll work on a new unpublished AAA game. As a Principal Character Artist, you’ll partner with all the other departments to execute our unique visual style and ultimately create new and satisfying experiences for players. Responsibilities: • Produce the look and feel of high fidelity 3D characters and cosmetic assets • Understand project requirements to influence and create in-game assets that are optimized, performant, and animation friendly • Interpret and push concept designs to the next level while accounting for technical and design constraints • Collaborate with various other disciplines to ensure all assets perform and are in line with project vision, style guides, and ready to scale through a cosmetics pipeline • Document and communicate processes to others and mentor junior members of the team Required Qualifications: • 8+ years of character modeling experience as a Senior or Principal Artist in the gaming industry • Strong experience working with modeling, sculpting and texturing programs such as Maya, Zbrush, and Substance Painter • Extensive experience in game engines (i.e. Unreal, Unity, etc.) • Deep knowledge of human anatomy, form, and color theory • Proactively stay up-to-date with industry trends and new processes • Proven ability to set quality bars and provide actionable craft feedback to other artists • A portfolio that shows a range of character styles and fidelities • Experience collaborating across disciplines to solve visual, technical, and production challenges Desired Qualifications: • Experience working on cosmetic pipelines for live service game operations • Experience shipping multiple games and/or content for multiple live games When submitting your application, please provide a portfolio of your high-quality character art - including a range of character styles and fidelities. For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role! Our Perks: Riot focuses on work/life balance, shown by our open paid time off policy and other perks such as flexible work schedules. We offer medical, dental, and life insurance, parental leave for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and children, and a 401k with company match. Check out our benefits pages for more information. At Riot Games, we put players first . That mission drives every decision in our quest to create games and experiences that make it better to be a player. Whether you’re working directly on a new player-facing experience or you’re supporting the company as a whole, everyone at Riot is part of our mission. And just like in our games, we’re better when we work toget