resume
Chris Sulzbach - Principal Character Artist
Midsummer Studios - 2024 - Present
Principal Character Artist
Unannounced
Insomniac Games - 2021 - 2024
Manager, Character Art
Supported character art efforts on Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine - guiding pipeline development, lookdev, and final asset delivery
Led a large cross-functional team of internal and external artists, fostering collaboration across departments and time zones
Supported character team with IC goal setting, career growth, mentorship, and training
Helped shape the studio’s long-term character art strategy by aligning character art department goals with broader studio initiatives
Collaborated with Art Direction to ensure asset quality
Collaborated with Production to streamline deliverables
Insomniac’s Cultural Leadership Award - Finalist
Marvel’s Wolverine
Lead Character Artist
Lead several visual feature pods throughout development
Created proxies to aid development of various characters
Led many studio-wide photogrammetry sessions
Supported character team with supplemental concept support
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Manager, Character Art
Supported character team through final year of production
Zenimax Online Studio - 2019 - 2021
The Elder Scrolls Online: Gates of Oblivion
Lead Character Artist / PO - New Assets Strike Team
Created proxies to aid rig development for new monsters and critters
Assist in concept design of characters
Support team across all aspects of character creation and implementation
Supported character team with IC goal setting, career growth, mentorship, and training
The Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor
Principal Character Artist / PO - New Assets Strike Team
Firaxis Games - 2005 - 2019
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Senior / Lead Character Artist (Preproduction)
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
Senior Character Artist
XCOM 2: Tactical Legacy Pack
Senior Character Artist
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Rise and Fall
Senior Character Artist
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
Art Director
Directed a team that executed an appropriate and consistent visual style
Assisted in the creation of marketing material for the franchise
Prototyped and maintained an agile art wiki used by the team as a living art bible
Supported leads with some system design / implementation / concept work
Kitbashed and lit models / animations to create Chosen / Faction / Command Vignettes
XCOM 2
Lead Character Artist
Prototyped and implemented the Player Character and NPC customization systems
Visual development for depicting a multi-class, multi-level player character system
Oversaw internal and external development of all characters and weapons
Aided in implementation and training for a physically based rendering pipeline
XCOM: Enemy Unknown / Enemy Within
Lead Character Artist
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution
Lead Character Artist
Sid Meier’s Railroads!
Sid Meier’s Civilization IV
Sid Meier’s Pirates
Industry Cred:
Portfolio review panelist for the Killer Portfolio or Portfolio Killer talk - GDC 2011 - 2021
Presented about Game Development to various schools along the east coast.
Speaker at GDC - 2007
Education: Maryland Institute, College of Art - BFA Experimental Animation - Summa Cum Laude - 2006
Software: Maya, Max, Painter, ZBrush, Marvelous Designer, Photoshop, Unreal Engine, Marmoset Toolbag
References: Available upon request