Nancy Paulin, Lead Artist, joined Gameloft Brisbane in 2019 as a 3D artist on what was supposed to be a short-term contract, but she fell in love with the city and team and just had to stay!
She has over 15 years of experience in the gaming industry and has worked at various studios on some of the biggest franchises.
Since joining Gameloft, Nancy has helped release Ballistic Baseball and The Oregon Trail and is now leading a team of artists on a new, announced project!
Find out more about Nancy, what she loves about working at Gameloft Brisbane, and her advice for aspiring artists below.
Hi, Nancy! Tell us about yourself.
I’m from Montreal, Canada, and I used to work for EA Motive as a lead character artist. Before working at Motive, I worked at Ubisoft for 10 years where I started as a level artist on Avatar: The Game, then as a texture artist on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.
Following those projects, I had the chance to learn character modeling and be part of the character team on Assassin’s Creed III. After this, I was promoted to lead character artist on Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag and Rainbow Six Siege.
Currently, I’m the new lead artist at Gameloft Brisbane. I was hired almost three years ago for a four-month 3D artist contract, but I loved the team and Brisbane so much that I never left!
In my spare time I like painting mandalas, and I also love running and training. I’m a tattoo fan, and I have an almost nine-month old son who is already the person with the most passports (three!) I know.
A fun fact about me is that I used to play table tennis until my mid-twenties and represented Canada in some international tournaments.
What is your role, and what do you enjoy most about your job?
As a lead artist, my role is to make sure there is good communication between the Art department and all the others. I assist the art director with the department planning and giving the other artists direction and feedback.
What I enjoy the most about my role is being able to help our team of artists develop and grow. I like to see them reach a level that they even didn’t think was possible.
What are some of your most memorable moments at Gameloft?
I think it’s being part of the team that created The Oregon Trail and the entire game production. I can easily say that it was the most enjoyable, smoothest, and fun project of my career so far.
The Oregon Trail was one of the most well planned projects I’ve worked on, and even though we were a really small team and had a really short timeframe, we managed to create an amazing product.
Every member of the team, no matter in which department, was working towards the same goal: creating the best game we could in the time we had. There were no egos and even though our work setting kept changing because of COVID, the leads and directors made sure to keep the team working as a unit with our sprint kick-offs and Friday showcases where everyone could enjoy a beer while appreciating the progress and effort of each team.
What advice do you have for people, and especially women, who want to work in gaming in a similar role?
Be humble and listen to advice and feedback from other artists. Absorb it like a sponge, and make sure you always give your best in everything you do. Be flexible, be versatile, but most of all, be yourself.
As a female lead artist in the industry, I’ve often had the feeling that I needed to prove myself more than men in the same role. I sometimes felt like people thought I got a promotion because I was the only women on the team. But in the end, what I realized was that by being yourself, by letting your work and actions speak for you, you never end up having to prove or justify to anyone that you deserve the role you are in. You are as worthy as any other member of the team.
Gameloft Brisbane is currently hiring for multiple different positions, and you can learn more and apply here! Stay tuned for another editions of Humans Behind the Game!
