Art Director (iGaming/Online Casino)
The role
The Art Director is the author of Maharlika’s visual identity across every title in the catalogue. Maharlika owns art direction in-house — external studios produce the art, but they do not direct it. The Art Director translates Maharlika’s brand identity, lane discipline, and creative ambition into the Art Bible — a published visual style guide that governs all production art across all titles.
The role authors the Art Bible (palette systems, symbol language, UI design language, character rules, animation principles, VFX guidance, audio-visual integration principles, theme adaptation rules, cultural authenticity guidelines), defines visual direction for each title (concept, mood, character and environment design, key art), and reviews art delivered by studios at every milestone for fidelity to both the Art Bible and the per-title direction.
A central craft commitment runs through the role: every animation, VFX, and SFX decision is informed by what it does to the player psychologically. This is the discipline that separates premium casino games from generic ones — the tension of the respin counter ticking down, the dopamine of the small-win celebration, the anticipation framed into a near-miss, the catharsis of the Grand reveal.The Art Director is responsible for engineering this craft into the Art Bible and per-title briefs, and for enforcing it through review of studio deliverables, including where the studio may not have the instinct natively.
Maharlika operates a two-lane catalogue structure:
- Lane A — Premium Heritage. Every Lane A title carries the Hold-and-Win bonus feature paired with the multi-tier network progressive jackpot system (Mini, Minor, Major, Grand). This signature combination is non-negotiable. The Hold-and-Win grid is the visual centerpiece of every Lane A flagship — tier symbols can land directly on the grid, filling the grid awards the Grand. Lane A production tier is cinematic-grade. Aesthetic direction, theme, palette, and visual language are decided per title by the Art Director within Maharlika’s brand parameters — lane assignment does not prescribe these.
- Lane B — Broad-appeal. Mechanic-varied catalogue. Any pay mechanic, reel mechanic, or bonus feature that suits the title — cluster pays, cascades, multipliers, expanding wilds, scatter pays, free-spin structures, or others. Some Lane B titles integrate the multi-tier network progressive jackpot; others ship standalone. Lane B production tier is lighter than Lane A, but the polish and brand discipline are not — Lane B titles must read as Maharlika titles, not as cheaper Lane A variants. Aesthetic direction is decided per title.
Filipino theming is a brand-level commitment present across both lanes. Binondo Fortune and Anting-Anting are Lane A Filipino-themed titles; Lane B titles in concept include Filipino-themed entries (Sarap Bonanza, Fiesta Fortunes). Future titles may reference broader source material — Asian heritage, regional folklore, contemporary themes, mythology — at the Art Director’s discretion.
Preferred qualifications:
- Prior employment at PG Soft, JILI, Hacksaw Gaming, Nolimit City, Push Gaming, Yggdrasil, or Pragmatic Play, or another premium-tier slot publisher with distinctive art direction or industry-leading production craft.
- Different publishers earn this signal on different dimensions. PG Soft and JILI for mobile-native flagship production and regional player familiarity. Hacksaw, Nolimit City, and Push Gaming for distinctive art direction at premium tier. Yggdrasil for award-recognized, art-forward production. Pragmatic Play for production craft, animation polish, sound design, VFX integration with math, and mobile-desktop parity discipline — the catalogue-wide consistency Maharlika needs across mechanically varied titles.
- Land-based casino art direction experience at Aristocrat or Light & Wonder is a strong adjacent signal — Maharlika’s signature combination (Hold-and-Win + multi-tier network progressive jackpot) is structurally inherited from these cabinet families.
- Has shipped Hold-and-Win or multi-tier progressive jackpot titles specifically.
- Multi-language localization experience — visual considerations for non-Latin scripts, RTL layouts, and region-specific iconography.
- Comfortable with audio direction collaboration (orchestral scoring, theme-specific SFX and instrumentation on Filipino-themed titles, lane-appropriate sound design).
Where this role fits
The Art Director works directly with the founder during pre-launch, transitioning to report to the Chief Product Officer once that role is filled. The role collaborates with the Math Designer (separate hire), the studios contracted for production, audio direction (separate hire or contractor), and certification labs during submission.
The Art Director and Math Designer are peer authorities. The Math Designer specifies math; the Art Director specifies visuals; both report to the same place; neither overrules the other. Tight collaboration is required — the Hold-and-Win grid design, the tier symbol presentation, win celebration calibration, ceremonial moment pacing, and many other decisions sit at the intersection of math and visual craft.
Once hired, the Art Director is onboarded against Maharlika’s internal canon — brand positioning, lane structure, math identity, jackpot architecture, audio signature commitments, and the relevant Decision Log entries that document how these were arrived at.This onboarding includes the Game Mechanics Taxonomy (which defines the vocabulary used in all per-title direction) and the Competitor Math Reference (which documents how Maharlika’s math identity differs from comparator catalogues).
About the first projects- Binondo Fortune — flagship #1, Lane A premium tier, Filipino-Chinese fusion theme set in Manila’s Binondo, the world’s oldest Chinatown. Hold-and-Win with multi-tier network progressive jackpot. Currently in concept stage.
- Anting-Anting — flagship #2 (concept), Lane A premium tier, Filipino folk magic theme. Hold-and-Win with multi-tier network progressive jackpot.
- Lane B catalogue — broad-appeal titles with varied themes (Filipino food, fiestas, animal symbolism, mahjong, mythology) and varied mechanics, some integrating the multi-tier network progressive jackpot, others standalone on their own mechanic.
The current Binondo and Anting-Anting visuals are founder-authored concept references that communicate creative direction. Final art execution begins once the Art Director is in seat and the Art Bible is authored.
About the stage
Maharlika is pre-launch. License application is in progress; aggregator distribution partnerships and operator network are in place; brand identity, signature mechanics, two-lane positioning, math identity targets, jackpot architecture, audio signature commitments, and player experience commitments are all locked in internal canon.
The Math Model and Art Bible are the two foundational specification documents that the entire catalogue will build against. Senior candidates should expect to be authoring those specifications and shaping how every future title takes form.