Animation Art Intern - Summer 2027

As an Animation Artist Intern at Riot, you will bring champions and characters to life through classic animation principles and body mechanics. You will create high quality animations for a diverse and rapidly growing universe, including bipeds, quadrupeds, and creatures. A great reel will showcase a variety of body types, a diverse selection of action oriented game-related animation, and a strong foundation in the principles of animation, including weight, anticipation, and impact. Also working to expand our current content pipeline, you will collaborate with designers and artists to develop new features and technologies. Your craft expertise will breathe life into iconic and beloved characters for players.

In your application, you will select which product you prefer to apply for:

Teamfight Tactics

As an Animation Artist Intern on Teamfight Tactics, you will animate a large variety of things, ranging from champions (old and new), creatures, and even props! Your animations will have to consider how to synthesize both animation principles and the needs of strict gameplay requirements. Throughout development you will be hand-keying/editing animations in Maya, learning about League’s proprietary game engine, and implementing assets within the Unreal Game Engine. Throughout the internship you will have an onboarding partner and a team supporting you through our set development.

League of Legends

As an Animation Artist Intern on League, you will focus on champion animation. You will collaborate with animators on character lore, their motivations, and incorporate their core identity with project requirements to create impactful character performances. Your animations will be hand keyed in Maya using classic animation principles. You will also be responsible for implementation within our proprietary game engine. Throughout the process you will have an onboarding partner and a mentor to guide you through our development process.

Responsibilities:

Create high quality animations for a diverse and expanding universe, including bipeds, quadrupeds, and monsters
Help develop new features and technologies to expand the content pipeline
Collaborate with designers and artists to create animation assets that fulfill the requirements of the project’s game and visual design
Recognize areas of opportunity and help other animators level up to AAA-title-standards
Consistently meet project deadlines in a timely manner without compromising artistic integrity
Balance craft and product feedback with a strong empathy and focus on player value
Consistently communicate by proactively collaborating, directing next steps, and providing clear goals and outcomes to your team

Required Qualifications:

Currently enrolled in a college, university or non degree program
Available to work full-time hours for 10-12 week at our Los Angeles Headquarters
Authorized to work in the U.S.
Experience with action and combat based animations showcasing locomotion cycles for characters and creatures of diverse shape and size (bipeds, quadrupeds, etc.)
Experience with Maya

Desired Qualifications:

Gaming specific animations through professional or personal work
Experience w/ Unreal Engine and Animation Blueprints

For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will certainly be looking at your past studies and experience, but for this role, we also look for dedicated people with a personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about the experiences of players, this could be the role for you!

Work Authorization

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States for the duration of the program.
This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. We do not sponsor visas for this position or internship conversions.

General Portfolio Advice:

Please limit application submission to 1 role. You will automatically be considered for similar roles based on your portfolio
Online format is preferred (Artstation, personal websites, etc.)
If you have private work that is under NDA, please include the password in your application. Otherwise, we recommend you do not password protect your portfolio
Test that your Portfolio or reel is accessible. Please include access to your portfolio on your resume in addition to the application form in case the link breaks
Ensure your portfolio showcases your best work
Fan Art? Sure! It shows your versatility as it relates directly to our art style
Depending on the role, immersing yourself in the game to get the feel, tone and look can go a long way for your portfolio

Applications close Monday, January 4th, 2025 at 11:59pm PT

Our Perks:

Riot Internships are paid, and interns can also participate in our 401(k) plan. You can expect in-game perks, and the ability to participate in our Play Fund, so you can broaden and deepen your knowledge of our players and community through games. The University Programs team also invites you to intern focused events so you can connect with your fellow interns and Rioters to make the most out of your experience.

Riot Games fosters a player and workplace experience that values teamwork embodied by the Summoner's Code and Community Code. Our culture embraces differences as a strength, and our values are the guiding principles for how we approach work. We are committed to putting diversity and inclusion (D&I) at the center of everything we do, and promoting a fair and collaborative culture where Rioters treat one another with dignity and respect. We encourage you to read more about our value of thriving together and our ongoing work to build the most inclusive company in Gaming.

It’s our policy to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and members of Riot Games, Inc. Riot Games makes reasonable accommodations for handicapped and disabled Rioters and does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, handicap, veteran status, marital status, criminal history, or any other category protected by applicable federal and state law. We consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including the California Fair Chance Act, the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and the Washington Fair Chance Act.

Per the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the following core duties may create a basis for disqualifying candidates with relevant criminal histories:

Safeguarding confidential and sensitive Company data
Communication with others, including Rioters and third parties such as vendors, and/or players, including minors
Accessing Company assets, secure digital systems, and networks
Ensuring a safe interactive environment for players and other Rioters

These duties are directly related to essential operations, safety, trust, and compliance obligations within our organization. Please note that job duties may evolve based on business needs and additional responsibilities may be assigned as necessary to maintain operational efficiency and security.

(Remote Only) The hourly rate for this internship is USD $35.48