TORBEN LIN DSTR ÖM

Torben joined Ubisoft as a junior concept artist

So what is it really like working at Ubisoft Massive?

Super exciting. The stuff we work on is entertaining, interesting and challenging. From day one at the company I felt that the department leads and directors have trusted me and my abilities, and that is really encouraging.

Which projects have you worked on so far?

Only on Tom Clancy’s The Division so far. I joined Ubisoft Massive last year and it’s the first commercial title I’ve worked on.

Are you afforded a lot of artistic freedom when it comes to your work there?

It depends a lot on what kind of game you’re making at the time and what part you’re designing. There are some obvious guidelines and rules that you always have to account for when designing for a real-world setting in video games. Nonetheless, I still feel that I have a lot of artistic freedom in my work, especially in how I go about developing designs and what visual cues I choose to put in them to communicate a story.

How did you find the process of joining the company?

Very enlightening and very productive. I’ve gotten so much out of having a steady platform where I can paint and design all day, together with a bunch of like-minded people. You learn so much as an artist from just having access to that. For the first half of my internship I had Titus Lunter as my mentor and he taught me some very valuable key points for how to think like a concept artist. Many thanks again Titus!

And what kind of benefits are on offer for Massive employees?

I actually met some of Massive’s concept artists for the first time at a sketch meeting here in Malmö when I had just started out learning the craft. Currently we’re mostly just hard at work, but Tom Garden, the lead concept artist, is always hunting down workshops and courses for us to attend.

What makes Massive’s art department special in your eyes?

We are people from all around the world and are therefore diverse in our tastes and styles. And yet we have a very friendly and playful atmosphere and I’ve learned so much from being in this environment, even beyond concept art and game development.