Gaming & Esports Jobs in California with F-1 OPT Sponsorship
F-1 OPT gaming and esports jobs in California put you at the center of the industry, with major employers like Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Scopely headquartered across Los Angeles and the Bay Area. California concentrates more gaming studios and esports organizations than any other state, making it the most active market for OPT-eligible candidates in this field.
See All Gaming & Esports JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 134+ Gaming & Esports F-1 OPT Sponsorship Jobs in California jobs


Have you applied for this role?


Have you applied for this role?


Have you applied for this role?


Have you applied for this role?


Have you applied for this role?
See all 134+ Gaming & Esports F-1 OPT Sponsorship Jobs in California jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Gaming & Esports F-1 OPT Sponsorship Jobs in California roles.
Get Access To All Jobs
About us:
GungHo Online Entertainment America Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of the Japanese gaming company GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc. We publish titles across multiple platforms ranging from AAA to handheld to mobile. Our group is comprised of veterans from various aspects of the industry who are brought together by one simple thing: a love of gaming.
Position Summary:
The Realtime lighting Artist will be responsible for creating high quality real-time environment scenes for our game title. The position will be lighting scenes, adjusting shaders and textures, and also help creating models and assets when necessary.
Responsibilities:
Lighting
- Artistic and Technical knowledge of lighting during runtime scenes for both gameplay and in-game cinematics.
- Clear knowledge of Unreal/Unity light baking, lightmap and lighting optimization techniques as well as Level Sequencer.
- The artist should be able to design and implement lighting setups for characters in both gameplay and cinematic scenes, ensuring that the character’s appearance remains natural, consistent, and visually appealing under various lighting conditions.
Composing Scenes
- Setting up scenes and lighting using the specified game engine.
- Create and adjust textures and shaders to get the correct effect and achieve aesthetic goal.
- Create high quality skyboxes.
- Follow the given Art Direction and work with other Level Designers to ensure that environments are compelling both visually and also from a gameplay perspective.
Look Development, Texturing and 3D Modeling
- Support the material artist for creating texture, shader and material settings to develop the look of characters and other assets with well-organized optimization ensuring the best performance.
- Help develop 3D models when needed based on concept art or other specifications to be game ready.
- Willing to explore different approaches of creating character and environmental assets for game, including but not limit to Procedural Building Generation and sculpting.
- Provide feedback for models and textures made by internal and external artists in order to fully develop the desired look.
- Willing to improve models and textures made by internal and external artists in order to fully develop the most desired look.
Other Game Development Tasks
- Work with developers of other discipline to make sure that the scenes and art assets support the game performance and memory budget as a whole.
- Help out with design, or testing when necessary.
- Look for and share information regarding latest best practices or tools for better or more efficient 3D art creation.
Other & Miscellaneous
- Perform special projects and other miscellaneous duties that are assigned by upper management.
- Test prototypes of future game titles to provide constructive feedback.
- Other tasks as assigned.
Requirements and Skills:
- 3+ years of professional experience as a Technical or Material Artist, or in a similar position.
- Intensive experience working with game engines.
- Experience with Unreal Engine is a required.
- Good foundation in art and design, includes composition, form and color theory.
- Strong understanding of architecture and city planning.
- Fluent with Photoshop, Substance Suite and ability to paint textures.
- Fluent with 3D modeling using Maya, Zbrush, or similar software.
- Knowledge of managing art assets for games in clean organization.
- Experience setting up 3D scenes and lighting required.
- Good communication skills—able to help others and ask for help when needed. Being proactive in sharing info and assets.
- Great team-player attitude—being flexible with new ideas, being open to direction and changes. Listening to team mates.
- Self-motivated—requires minimal direction, can carry on the vision for the level until completion and commit to deadlines.
Pluses:
- Experience working with particle effects.
- Experience teaching Art, and Environment Art in particular, online or in person.
- Art Leadership experience.
- Houdini Experience.
Why you want to work here:
At GungHo, we are enthusiastic about creating fun games and we are always looking for talented individuals with whom we can share our passion. We have a highly collaborative culture where everyone wants to work together to get things done. We are all specialists in our own field so you will constantly learn new things while sharing your own knowledge with us.
Perks:
- 100% employer-paid insurances: Health insurance (PPO Medical, Dental, and Vision), Life insurance, Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance, and Long Term Disability insurance.
- 401(k) with employer match.
- Competitive paid time off: Vacation, Personal time, Sick Leave, Holidays, and Winter Breaks.
- A bonus may be provided based on business performance.
Business hour: 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM in Pacific Time
Salary Range: $60,000 - $100,000 per year
Note: Only applications submitted through the online system or formally referred by the designated recruiter will be deemed official and accepted. Any resumes submitted through alternative channels will not be recognized as valid applications.

About us:
GungHo Online Entertainment America Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of the Japanese gaming company GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc. We publish titles across multiple platforms ranging from AAA to handheld to mobile. Our group is comprised of veterans from various aspects of the industry who are brought together by one simple thing: a love of gaming.
Position Summary:
The Realtime lighting Artist will be responsible for creating high quality real-time environment scenes for our game title. The position will be lighting scenes, adjusting shaders and textures, and also help creating models and assets when necessary.
Responsibilities:
Lighting
- Artistic and Technical knowledge of lighting during runtime scenes for both gameplay and in-game cinematics.
- Clear knowledge of Unreal/Unity light baking, lightmap and lighting optimization techniques as well as Level Sequencer.
- The artist should be able to design and implement lighting setups for characters in both gameplay and cinematic scenes, ensuring that the character’s appearance remains natural, consistent, and visually appealing under various lighting conditions.
Composing Scenes
- Setting up scenes and lighting using the specified game engine.
- Create and adjust textures and shaders to get the correct effect and achieve aesthetic goal.
- Create high quality skyboxes.
- Follow the given Art Direction and work with other Level Designers to ensure that environments are compelling both visually and also from a gameplay perspective.
Look Development, Texturing and 3D Modeling
- Support the material artist for creating texture, shader and material settings to develop the look of characters and other assets with well-organized optimization ensuring the best performance.
- Help develop 3D models when needed based on concept art or other specifications to be game ready.
- Willing to explore different approaches of creating character and environmental assets for game, including but not limit to Procedural Building Generation and sculpting.
- Provide feedback for models and textures made by internal and external artists in order to fully develop the desired look.
- Willing to improve models and textures made by internal and external artists in order to fully develop the most desired look.
Other Game Development Tasks
- Work with developers of other discipline to make sure that the scenes and art assets support the game performance and memory budget as a whole.
- Help out with design, or testing when necessary.
- Look for and share information regarding latest best practices or tools for better or more efficient 3D art creation.
Other & Miscellaneous
- Perform special projects and other miscellaneous duties that are assigned by upper management.
- Test prototypes of future game titles to provide constructive feedback.
- Other tasks as assigned.
Requirements and Skills:
- 3+ years of professional experience as a Technical or Material Artist, or in a similar position.
- Intensive experience working with game engines.
- Experience with Unreal Engine is a required.
- Good foundation in art and design, includes composition, form and color theory.
- Strong understanding of architecture and city planning.
- Fluent with Photoshop, Substance Suite and ability to paint textures.
- Fluent with 3D modeling using Maya, Zbrush, or similar software.
- Knowledge of managing art assets for games in clean organization.
- Experience setting up 3D scenes and lighting required.
- Good communication skills—able to help others and ask for help when needed. Being proactive in sharing info and assets.
- Great team-player attitude—being flexible with new ideas, being open to direction and changes. Listening to team mates.
- Self-motivated—requires minimal direction, can carry on the vision for the level until completion and commit to deadlines.
Pluses:
- Experience working with particle effects.
- Experience teaching Art, and Environment Art in particular, online or in person.
- Art Leadership experience.
- Houdini Experience.
Why you want to work here:
At GungHo, we are enthusiastic about creating fun games and we are always looking for talented individuals with whom we can share our passion. We have a highly collaborative culture where everyone wants to work together to get things done. We are all specialists in our own field so you will constantly learn new things while sharing your own knowledge with us.
Perks:
- 100% employer-paid insurances: Health insurance (PPO Medical, Dental, and Vision), Life insurance, Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance, and Long Term Disability insurance.
- 401(k) with employer match.
- Competitive paid time off: Vacation, Personal time, Sick Leave, Holidays, and Winter Breaks.
- A bonus may be provided based on business performance.
Business hour: 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM in Pacific Time
Salary Range: $60,000 - $100,000 per year
Note: Only applications submitted through the online system or formally referred by the designated recruiter will be deemed official and accepted. Any resumes submitted through alternative channels will not be recognized as valid applications.
Job Roles in Gaming & Esports in California
See all 134+ Gaming & Esports California jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Gaming & Esports California roles.
Get Access To All JobsFrequently Asked Questions
Which gaming and esports companies sponsor F-1 OPT visas in California?
California is home to some of the largest gaming and esports employers in the country that have established OPT hiring patterns. Companies like Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Scopely, and Zynga are based in the Los Angeles and Bay Area regions and have histories of hiring OPT-eligible candidates. Esports organizations such as Team SoloMid (TSG) and 100 Thieves are also headquartered in Los Angeles. OPT authorization does not require employer-sponsored petition filing, which lowers the barrier compared to H-1B, but each company's internal policy on hiring international students varies.
Which cities in California have the most gaming and esports F-1 OPT sponsorship jobs?
Los Angeles is the dominant city for gaming and esports OPT opportunities in California, anchored by studios in Santa Monica, Culver City, and Irvine in the broader Southern California region. The San Francisco Bay Area, particularly San Mateo and Redwood City, hosts major publishers including Electronic Arts. San Diego has a smaller but active gaming development scene. Los Angeles stands out for esports specifically, with most North American esports organizations maintaining their headquarters there.
What types of gaming and esports roles typically qualify for F-1 OPT sponsorship?
F-1 OPT covers employment directly related to your field of study, so qualifying roles depend on your degree discipline. Common matches include software engineering, game design, data analytics, UX research, marketing, and business operations roles at gaming studios or esports organizations. Technical roles like game programmer, data scientist, or machine learning engineer align well with STEM degrees and may qualify for the 24-month STEM OPT extension, giving candidates in those fields up to three years of total OPT work authorization.
How do I find gaming and esports F-1 OPT sponsorship jobs in California?
Migrate Mate is built specifically for international students and filters gaming and esports jobs in California by OPT eligibility, so you are not sorting through listings that do not apply to your visa status. Beyond Migrate Mate, networking within California's dense gaming industry through events like GDC in San Francisco and esports tournament circuits can surface roles before they are publicly posted. Tailoring your search to studios with established international hiring programs improves your chances significantly.
Are there any California-specific or industry-specific considerations for F-1 OPT in gaming and esports?
California's strong worker protection laws, including restrictions on non-compete agreements, are generally favorable for international candidates moving between gaming studios. The state's high concentration of STEM-designated programs at UC campuses and private universities means many gaming-adjacent graduates qualify for the 24-month STEM OPT extension. One practical consideration is California's high cost of living, particularly in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, which affects your planning even though OPT itself does not impose additional state-level requirements beyond federal authorization.
See which gaming & esports employers are hiring and sponsoring visas in California right now.
Search Gaming & Esports Jobs in California