How to Get Hired at Guerrilla Games
How to get hired at Guerrilla Games as a game artist. What the Horizon franchise demands from artists, how their hiring process works in Amsterdam, salary data, and visa details for non-EU applicants.
Get Guerrilla Games Job Alerts →$5/month. Cancel anytime. 9,000+ game artists subscribed.
Guerrilla Games Art Styles and Franchises
Lush Post-Apocalyptic Naturalism
Nature reclaimed over industrial civilization. Dense foliage systems, diverse biomes, and ancient machine ruins blend organic and industrial aesthetics at industry-leading quality.
- World-class foliage and vegetation systems
- Biome diversity (jungle, desert, snow, wetlands)
- Industrial ruins integrated into natural environments
- Strong lighting and atmospheric rendering
Stylized Realism with Rich Cultural Design
Forbidden West expanded the franchise’s cultural diversity and environmental complexity. Character and tribe design requires deep research into real-world indigenous cultures combined with post-apocalyptic adaptive design.
- Culturally-diverse character and costume design
- Expanded biome and water environment art
- Dense machine and creature design (tribal-industrial hybrids)
- Underwater and dynamic weather environment art
Proprietary Tech Pipeline
Guerrilla develops and maintains the DECIMA engine, also licensed to Hideo Kojima Productions. Artists work within a proprietary, technically demanding pipeline. Strong shader and material knowledge accelerates your onboarding.
- Proprietary material graph and shader system
- World-class volumetric lighting system
- Large-scale world streaming and LOD systems
- Collaborative pipeline with Nixxes and other Sony studios
Biomechanical Creature Art
Guerrilla’s machines are among the most recognized creature designs in gaming. Each machine is an animal analogue built from mechanical components with consistent internal logic and visual language.
- Mechanical and organic design fusion
- Internal logic and functional design consistency
- High-fidelity hard surface modeling for creature forms
- Clear predator vs prey silhouette language
How the Guerrilla Games Hiring Process Works
Apply via guerrilla-games.com/work
Guerrilla posts all roles on their own careers page. They receive thousands of applications per opening for senior roles. The portfolio is evaluated before the CV in most cases. A weak portfolio will be screened without a cover letter review.
4-8 weeks to first responsePortfolio Review
Your portfolio is reviewed by the department lead and one senior artist. They evaluate whether your quality level matches current production output. Guerrilla’s bar is among the highest in Europe. References to specific Horizon sequences or machines in your work signals genuine franchise knowledge.
Critical filter — most applicants end hereRecruiter Call
A 30-minute call with a Guerrilla recruiter covering your background, availability to relocate to Amsterdam, and compensation expectations. Visa and relocation support availability is confirmed here. Guerrilla sponsors Kennismigrant visas for qualifying non-EU candidates and offers relocation assistance.
30 minutes, relocation discussed hereArt Test
Mid-level and senior roles typically include a paid art test relevant to the franchise style. Character artists receive a machine or human character brief. Environment artists receive a biome or architectural brief. Tests run 1-2 weeks with a defined deliverable scope.
Usually paid at mid/senior levelFinal Interview and Offer
A panel interview with the art director, lead, and a senior peer. Covers creative process, production history, and relocation timeline. Offers include competitive Amsterdam salary, 30% tax ruling for international hires (30% of gross salary tax-free for up to 5 years), and full relocation package.
Total process: 6-12 weeksGuerrilla Games Salary Ranges for Game Artists
| Role | Location | Salary Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Artist | Amsterdam, Netherlands | EUR 38,000 – 52,000 | 30% ruling reduces tax burden for 5 years |
| Mid-Level Artist | Amsterdam, Netherlands | EUR 55,000 – 78,000 | Netherlands income tax 37-49.5% |
| Senior Artist | Amsterdam, Netherlands | EUR 80,000 – 115,000 | 30% ruling makes this highly competitive |
| Lead Artist | Amsterdam, Netherlands | EUR 100,000 – 145,000 | PlayStation Studios benefits package |
| Technical Artist | Amsterdam, Netherlands | EUR 72,000 – 120,000 | DECIMA engine experience a major plus |
| Art Director | Amsterdam, Netherlands | EUR 130,000 – 175,000 | Sony stock and bonus program |
What Guerrilla Games Looks for in Your Portfolio
Environment Artists
- Show natural biome environments with high-quality foliage, terrain, and lighting
- Include at least one industrialized ruin or post-apocalyptic environment
- Demonstrate your vegetation system setup, not just individual assets
- If possible, include DECIMA or similar proprietary engine examples, or UE5 Nanite at comparable quality
Character Artists
- Show full character pipeline: high-poly sculpt, retopo, texture, and real-time render
- Biomechanical design work (hard surface integrated with organic forms) is highly relevant
- Include tribal or culturally-diverse character costume and accessory design
- Show deformation-safe topology in posed or animation-ready state
Technical Artists
- DECIMA engine knowledge is rare and valuable — even UE5 advanced pipeline examples are strong
- Foliage and vegetation system setup experience directly matches Guerrilla’s pipeline needs
- Python and tool development for content creation pipeline acceleration
- Large-world streaming, LOD, and memory budget management examples
Concept Artists
- Biomechanical creature design that balances mechanical function with animal analogue silhouettes
- Environmental world-building across multiple biome types
- Character design with cultural grounding and adaptive post-apocalyptic clothing/gear
- Machine design with internal logic documentation (showing how each component functions)
Relocation to Amsterdam is effectively mandatory for all roles.
Guerrilla is an on-site studio. Remote and hybrid arrangements are extremely limited even for senior roles. You must be legally able to live and work in the Netherlands, or willing to relocate. For non-EU applicants, Guerrilla sponsors the Kennismigrant (knowledge migrant) visa for qualifying roles. The 30% tax ruling for international hires makes Amsterdam significantly more financially attractive than raw salary figures suggest — calculate your net take-home after the ruling before comparing to other offers.
Get Guerrilla Games Job Alerts
ArtBlast sends 10-60+ game art jobs daily. Be among the first to see openings at Guerrilla Games and 500+ other studios.
$5/month or $50/year. Cancel anytime.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I apply for a job at Guerrilla Games?
Apply at guerrilla-games.com/work. All roles are posted there directly. Your portfolio quality is reviewed before your CV at most roles. Tailor your work to demonstrate knowledge of the Horizon franchise’s visual language. Guerrilla receives very high application volumes and responds within 4-8 weeks.
Does Guerrilla Games sponsor visas?
Yes. Guerrilla sponsors the Kennismigrant (knowledge migrant) visa for non-EU candidates who meet the salary threshold (EUR 46,107 per year for candidates over 30, EUR 33,877 for candidates under 30 as of 2024). They also provide relocation assistance and support for your partner’s visa. The 30% tax ruling is available to all eligible international hires for up to 5 years.
What is the 30% ruling and how does it affect Guerrilla Game’s salary?
The Dutch 30% ruling allows qualifying international hires to receive 30% of their gross salary tax-free for up to 5 years. This significantly increases take-home pay. A EUR 80,000 salary with the 30% ruling can deliver take-home equivalent to EUR 100,000+ without it. It applies to candidates who were living more than 150km from the Dutch border before hire.
What art style does Guerrilla Games use?
Guerrilla builds lush post-apocalyptic naturalistic environments using their proprietary DECIMA engine. The Horizon franchise demands world-class foliage systems, diverse biomes, biomechanical machine creature design, and culturally-grounded character and costume design. Their bar is among the highest in European game development.
Is Guerrilla Games remote-friendly?
No. Guerrilla operates primarily on-site in Amsterdam. Remote roles are extremely rare and typically limited to specialist positions with strong track records. You should assume any application requires relocation to Amsterdam unless the job posting explicitly states otherwise.
Recent Game Art Roles
Roles that were recently live on ArtBlast. Subscribe to see today’s openings.