how available are remote positions for environment artist

hassansheded

i am learning environment art and trying to get a good portfolio but i am based in Egypt where we don't have that many studios, so can i get an entry level remote position as an environment artist ? assuming i have a good portfolio of course

Eric Chadwick

Unfortunately it's still fairly unlikely.

There's a lot to learn for an entry level game developer, and this is best absorbed in person, working within a tight knit team.

There are exceptions, but they are rare. It is still difficult to train new hires in a totally remote setup, unless the company has a strong remote culture already.

Taylor Brown

For an alternate take, I've been working professionally for over 3 years across a few studios and have only ever worked remote.

I recommend outsource studios as a way to get a start in the industry, especially if your country doesn't have much of an industry of its own.

PixelMasher

I have been working fully remote for the last 3 years so I'll try and share my experience and what I have seen in the industry job offeres that hit me up recently:

so counterplay is a fully remote, small to mid sized studio of ~100 ppl, we have people all over the world but generally in US/western europe timezones so there is atleast some core hours overlap every day. making the transition to being an AD freed me up from needing to lug around a massive tower, after investing in a super powerful laptop I can still do in editor work when needed but a lot of my time is spent in meetings and doing AD presentations etc, so with this setup and my companies policies I can literally work from anywhere in the world, with timezone overlap being the main limiting factor.

all that being said, that is because this is a newer/smaller company rather than somewhere like EA where they have a ton of restrictions and rules to follow for remote work, like having to be in the same country or city as the studio you are hired at, not being able to move around etc. A lot of montreal studios have gone to hybrid models but still do hire fully remote workers if the person is really good and doesnt want to re-locate from somewhere else within the same country.

I would recommend looking for smaller studios with less corporate red tape or outsourcing studios like taylor said, they tend to be more flexible with less rules. If you want to work remotely from egypt for a company in another country, be prepared to do it as a contrator/self employed setup, it makes tax law less of an issue for the company and you just claim your own taxes, that is how I am currently working for a US based company while living in canada.

at the end of the day, the more experience you have and the better your portfolio is, the more leverage you have to demand a fully remote position, if you have a proven track record of being able to be a self starter and work remotely its much more likely larger companies will say yes if they really want you to work on their projects. So as a junior, look for small to medium studios and get some experience under your belt and then chase after a studio you really want to work at. hope this helps!

Meloncov

Remote positions have become quite common, with two big caveats:

1. It's harder to find remote work as a junior. Many studios are fine with mid-level people working remotely, but want new people (who need more hand-holding) as well as leadership in-office.
2. You generally do need to be in the same country as the studio you're working for. Having someone overseas work remotely is complex from both a legal and a time-zone perspective.