Rapid End-to-End Art Production for Top First-Person Shooter
Crossfire is one of the most popular first-person shooters in the world, with over a billion players accrued since launch. When Smilegate began looking for a development partner for Crossfire HD, expectations were high. Smilegate needed more than a capable art team, they needed a partner with deep level art expertise, fluency in Unreal Engine, a strong understanding of the Chinese market, and the production scalability to sustain the demanding cadence of a live-service title.
Through a close collaboration with Smilegate, Virtuos has been a trusted art co-development partner for the game for over a decade – shipping a diverse range of end-to-end levels at a rapid 5-week cadence.
- Fully own End-to-End level production, shipping a new level every 5 weeks in customized UE3/UDK
- Provide high-quality, consistent level and weapon production across a variety of thematics and styles
- Create a large volume of environment assets, including props, buildings, terrain, and vegetation
- Take each level from Smilegate’s whitebox through to final ship — scoping assets, building proxy models, dressing environments, and optimizing 0for FPS performance
As a global game developer, Virtuos brings cross-cultural expertise and worldwide production depth to every market we work in. For Crossfire HD, that means level teams rooted in a deep understanding of the Chinese market, backed by a global network of specialists, enabling a truly diverse range of worlds, from futuristic sci-fi planets and traditional Chinese palaces to the cobblestone walkways of modern-day Paris.
High-quality weapons are an essential part of the FPS experience. The Virtuos team has produced hundreds of ultra-high precision weapons and weapon skins for Crossfire HD, and our weapon art production spans the same breadth of styles as the worlds we build.
From photo-realistic machine guns to super-stylized thematic weapons and accessories, our teams deliver across the full visual spectrum, ensuring immersion and enjoyment for every kind of FPS player.
Virtuos takes complete ownership of every level, from first brief to launch for millions of players in China.
It starts with a rough whitebox and mood concept from Smilegate. From there, the Virtuos team scopes assets, gathers references, and builds proxy models to establish a cohesive creative vision before full production begins.
Production then moves through asset finalization, level placement, and in-engine testing, with a consistent emphasis on FPS playability, player immersion, thematic alignment, and technical quality throughout.
The result is a repeatable, reliable pipeline that has delivered one complete new level every five weeks since 2015.
“A special thanks to Virtuos teams. It’s been a pleasure working with you all throughout this journey.”
Jinwoo Jung
Art Director, Smilegate
Leveraging deep expertise in world-building and FPS production, Virtuos has grown into a true co-development partner for Smilegate, embedded in their pipeline, trusted with full creative ownership, and delivering without compromise since 2015.
