Principal VFX Artist New

Epic Games is hiring a Principal VFX Artist for their Rocket League team in Cary, North Carolina. This role sits inside the FX department and is responsible for owning end-to-end VFX systems across gameplay, cosmetics, and arena environments within a live-service game pipeline. It is a good fit for a senior technical FX artist who has shipped multiple titles and is comfortable setting the visual standard for an entire production team.

About the Role

The Principal VFX Artist reports into the art department and works directly alongside Tech Art and Engineering to define and hit performance budgets across a real-time game environment. Day-to-day work spans authoring effects in Niagara, prototyping new VFX workflows, and reviewing work across the broader team to maintain consistent quality. This is a principal-level position, meaning a significant portion of the role involves mentorship and establishing what good looks like across the discipline.

Key Responsibilities

• Design reusable, scalable VFX systems that support rapid iteration across gameplay, cosmetics, and arena systems within the live-service game pipeline.
• Author real-time effects ranging from physically grounded simulations to high-energy stylized visuals using Niagara and Unreal Engine’s material system.
• Write shaders in HLSL or through the Material Editor to support custom VFX needs that exceed what off-the-shelf solutions can deliver.
• Optimize GPU performance across the VFX pipeline, managing draw calls, particle costs, and memory without compromising visual quality.
• Prototype and validate new VFX workflows and bring them into production in a way the broader team can adopt and build on.
• Mentor artists across disciplines, raising both the floor and ceiling of the team’s output through hands-on feedback and technical guidance.

What You Bring

• A real-time FX portfolio with multiple shipped titles in the game industry, with live-service game credits carrying strong weight.
• Deep proficiency with Niagara and Unreal Engine’s material system at a production level.
• Shader authoring experience in HLSL or the Material Editor, plus scripting ability in Python, Blueprint, or a comparable language.
• A demonstrated track record of GPU performance optimization across a shipped VFX pipeline.
• Houdini experience is a plus, particularly for artists who work from simulation reference.

Why This Role

Epic Games has built and maintained Unreal Engine for over 30 years, and Rocket League is one of the most-played live-service games in the world, which means the VFX pipeline this artist owns is seen by millions. Epic covers 100% of medical, dental, and vision premiums for employees and dependents, offers unlimited PTO, and includes a paid sabbatical at seven years. For a Principal VFX Artist looking to do principal-level work inside a well-resourced studio, the scope here is real.

Apply now for the Principal VFX Artist role at Epic Games and bring your real-time FX experience to one of the most visible live-service titles in the industry.