Smurfs
Art direction and environment design for a licensed Minecraft world built to promote Paramount's 2025 Smurfs movie.
Year
2025
Scope
Art Direction
Client
Paramount (with Minecraft)
The Smurfs DLC lets players explore Smurf Village, meet Papa Smurf, Smurfette, and Hefty Smurf, and complete three rescue minigames to free friends captured by Gargamel.
Challenge
The world had to feel instantly recognizable as Peyo's Smurfs, the same visual language as the movie releasing that summer, while still working as three very different minigames: a potion battle, a stealth chase, and a parkour run. Getting a licensed IP to look right under a strict deadline, timed to the film's release, was the hard part.
Solution
I worked on the project end to end, from early concept art through to launch, designing the village and its surrounding environments (adapted from Peyo's original comic) and directing the visual style across all three minigames. My focus was making sure everything felt cohesive and ran smoothly from a level design perspective, while collaborating with the 3D art team on the character and prop models.
Results
Released July 2025, four days after the movie's theatrical debut, in partnership with Paramount, with over 1.5M+ views on the official trailer in the Minecraft Youtube channel.
