Hire Remote Shader Developers

Hire Shader Developers Who Make Games Look Like Nothing Else

Shaders are where a game’s visual identity lives. The painterly brush stroke effect in a stylized adventure, the iridescent oil-slick material on an alien creature, the screen-space volumetric fog that makes an environment feel atmospheric — these are all custom shader work. Shader developers who combine mathematical depth with artistic sensibility and an understanding of GPU performance are rare and high-leverage.

We match you with senior Shader Developers who write production HLSL and GLSL — engineers who understand the mathematics of rendering (BRDFs, SDF raymarching, procedural noise, screen-space techniques) and the GPU hardware constraints that determine whether a shader will run at 60fps or 15fps. Developers who make visual goals achievable, not just visually correct.

Start in days, not months. Pay 50% less than equivalent US-based shader development talent.

What Our Shader Developers Build

PBR Material Shaders

Physically-based rendering materials from scratch — custom BRDF implementations, multi-layer material blending, clearcoat, anisotropy, subsurface scattering for skin and fabric, and the material property systems that expose the right parameters to artists without exposing the complexity underneath.

Stylized & Non-Photorealistic Shaders

Toon/cel shading, hatching and stippling effects, painterly brush stroke materials, watercolor rendering, pixel art upscaling shaders, and the custom stylization that differentiates a game’s visual identity from photorealistic convention. Art-direction-driven shader development that makes technical choices serve aesthetic goals.

Screen-Space & Post-Processing Effects

Custom post-processing passes — screen-space ambient occlusion (SSAO, HBAO), screen-space reflections (SSR), chromatic aberration, custom bloom, vignette, depth-based fog, and the full post-process stack that transforms raw render output into the game’s final visual presentation.

VFX & Particle Shaders

Fluid simulation shaders (fire, smoke, water), dissolve and destruction effects (SDF-based erosion, noise-driven clip), trail and ribbon effects, energy and magical ability visuals, and the real-time particle shaders that make ability VFX feel impactful without destroying the GPU budget.

Procedural & SDF Techniques

Signed distance function (SDF) raymarching for complex volumetric effects, procedural texture generation (noise functions, fractal patterns, voronoi), runtime geometry modification via vertex shaders, and the shader math that generates complex visual results without relying on authored texture maps.

Shader Development Technology Stack

Shader Languages: HLSL (DirectX 12, DirectX 11), GLSL (OpenGL, Vulkan), MSL (Metal), WGSL (WebGPU) Node Graphs: Unity ShaderGraph, Unreal Material Editor, Amplify Shader Editor, Shader Forge Engines: Unity (URP, HDRP, Built-in), Unreal Engine 5, Godot (4.x), custom engines VFX: Unity VFX Graph, Unreal Niagara (custom GPU modules), EmberGen export integration GPU Tools: RenderDoc (shader debugging), PIX (HLSL debugging), NVIDIA NSight, Radeon GPU Profiler Web: Three.js (GLSL), WebGL, WebGPU, GLSL sandboxes (Shadertoy prototyping)

Client Success Story: Indie RPG — Signature Visual Style Achieves Viral Social Reach

A small indie studio’s fantasy RPG had strong gameplay but looked visually similar to dozens of other Unity games. They wanted a distinctive look that would stand out in Steam screenshots. Our Shader Developer spent 6 weeks building their signature visual system: a custom toon shader with multi-band rim lighting, hand-drawn hatching that overlaid detail in shadowed areas, a normal map watercolor displacement that gave surfaces painterly texture, and a post-process pass applying a subtle ink outline with variable width based on depth. The new visual style screenshot leaked to Twitter before launch and drove 40,000 Steam wishlists in 72 hours — organic social reach they’d been unable to generate for 8 months with the previous visual style.

Client Success Story: Mobile Action Game — VFX Shader Overhaul Maintains 60fps

A mobile action game’s ability visual effects were gorgeous on the lead designer’s iPad Pro but dropped to 28fps on target Android mid-range devices. Our Shader Developer rebuilt the VFX shader system: replaced complex particle simulation with GPU instancing of pre-authored flipbook animations, designed a simplified but visually equivalent dissolve effect using a single texture channel instead of 3, implemented screen-space distortion for impact effects at 1/4 render resolution with bilateral upscaling, and created LOD variants for each VFX triggered by device capability at runtime. Frame rate on target hardware: stable 60fps. Player test feedback rated the new VFX as “more impactful” than the original — the optimization process improved visual clarity by reducing complexity.

Why Companies Choose Our Shader Developers

• Math + art balance: They understand the mathematics of rendering and the artistic goals they’re serving — shaders that are mathematically correct and visually intentional
• GPU performance discipline: Beautiful shaders that don’t hit frame rate are useless — they profile and optimize as standard practice
• Prototyping speed: They iterate visuals fast — Shadertoy prototypes before engine implementation, node graph drafts before custom code
• 50% cost savings: Senior shader expertise at a fraction of US market rates
• Fast start: Most engagements begin within 1–2 weeks

Engagement Models

• Individual Shader Developer — One senior shader engineer for material system development, VFX shaders, or post-processing implementation.
• Shader + Technical Art Pod (2 engineers) — Shader developer paired with a Technical Artist for full visual feature development — the shader code and the pipeline that uses it.
• Graphics Feature Teams — Multiple shader and graphics engineers for studios building custom rendering pipelines or distinctive visual styles.
• Contract-to-Hire — Evaluate shader quality, GPU performance, and artistic sensibility before committing long-term.

How To Vet Shader Developers

Our vetting identifies shader engineers who understand the mathematics behind the effects — not just the nodes.

1. GPU execution model — How does a pixel shader execute on GPU hardware? Wavefront occupancy, register pressure, texture sampling costs, and the GPU behavior that determines whether a shader runs at 120fps or 30fps. Over 90% of applicants do not pass this stage.
2. Shader implementation challenge — Implement a specific visual effect in HLSL or GLSL from scratch: custom BRDF, screen-space technique, or procedural texture. Evaluated on mathematical correctness, code quality, and performance awareness.
3. Portfolio review — Shadertoy demos, in-engine screenshots, or shipped title credits. We look for visual distinctiveness, technical complexity, and evidence of performance optimization in production.
4. Optimization discussion — Given a shader with poor GPU performance, how do they diagnose and improve it? What tools? What are the common causes of slow shaders they’ve encountered?

What to Look for When Hiring Shader Developers

Strong shader developers understand both the pixel they’re drawing and the GPU drawing it.

What strong candidates demonstrate:

• They can derive the rendering math they implement — they understand Lambertian diffuse, GGX specular, and Fresnel from first principles, not just as node connections
• They profile shaders on target hardware — they know the cost of each texture sample and ALU instruction in frame time
• They have a visual portfolio showing distinctive effects — not just technically correct PBR materials
• They write HLSL/GLSL code, not just node graph connections — node graphs are a tool, not a ceiling

Red flags to watch for:

• “I use ShaderGraph” with no HLSL/GLSL code experience — can’t go beyond what nodes support
• No performance profiling experience — has caused GPU bottlenecks in production without realizing it
• Visually impressive portfolio with no performance metrics — doesn’t know the frame cost of their effects
• No understanding of GPU execution model — can’t explain why a particular shader is slow

Interview questions that reveal real depth:

• “Implement a screen-space rim lighting effect in HLSL that uses the depth buffer and normal map to add stylized edge highlighting. Walk me through the math.”
• “A VFX particle shader that looks great in the editor is causing frame drops on mobile. Walk me through your diagnostic process using available GPU profiling tools.”
• “How would you implement a dissolve shader that reveals a character disappearing by exposing their underlying skeleton? Describe the technique and the shader math.”

Related Services

• Graphics Programmers — Rendering pipeline engineers who build the systems shader developers write materials for.
• Technical Artists — Technical Artists who use shader systems to build materials for art teams.
• VFX Artists — Visual effects artists who work alongside shader developers on particle and simulation effects.
• Unity Developers — Senior Unity engineers for teams building shader-heavy Unity projects.

Want to Hire Remote Shader Developers?

We source, vet, and place senior Shader Developers who write the HLSL and GLSL that gives games their visual identity — engineers who understand rendering mathematics, profile GPU performance, and create effects that are visually distinctive and performant on target hardware.

Get matched with Shader Developers →

Ready to hire Shader Developers who define your game’s visual identity? Contact us today and we’ll introduce you to senior shader engineers within 48 hours.