Glass Egg is one of the visits I was looking forward to the most. I am not a huge video game fan, except for Just Dance 2017 on my X-Box 360, but it was so interesting to learn about the work process at GlassEgg. One of the first things that they mentioned was the focus on car design. My only background with cars is this one game, also on my X-Box 360, that I don’t know the actual name of because my little sister and I always just called it the ‘racing game’. Walking through the office space, it was impressive to see the attention to detail on each car. I guess you don’t become the best without extreme focus on every aspect of the vehicle. Even with random pieces in the background of the game, which GlassEgg doesn’t focus on as much, it was truly amazing to watch the artists work. I saw someone add shading and highlights to a random potted plant for the 1 or 2 minutes I was watching, which is such a small detail but proves just how amazing GlassEgg had become.
It appears that a big part of their success is their retention rate. Our guide explained that a large portion of the company has been employed for more than 5 years. I believe that the work environment may play a role in their numbers. The office includes collaborative desks, instead of the walled in cubes, an exercise room, and a recreational room. Many employees have personalized their spaces with plushies, figures, and other fun items. The employee base contains about 35% women, which to me seemed low, but is apparently better than most other comparable organizations. Also, who doesn’t love to work at an already successful company? During the presentation, I asked about whether customers came to GlassEgg, and it was clarified that this was the case. However, GlassEgg is a part of the much larger organization Virtuos, which is headquartered in Singapore. There are also bases around the world, including North America. Which means that the overall vision for each game must be clarified and refined across oceans. However, it was mentioned that GlassEgg is, as of more recent years, expected to produce more and more aspects of the games. It did not sound like it was by choice, but instead a necessity to keep up with competitors. When asked about AI, it was clear that most of the art, especially the concepts, was all human. AI is just used for simple things like shading, and a human researches every part of the design. As tech advances, it will be interesting to see how their methods continue to evolve.
Sports Day was a little crazy. I was not prepared to box or kick a hacky sack dizzy. Unfortunately, I was so focused on the activities and staying hydrated that I did not take any pictures. But Becky showed me a pretty funny one of me laughing while attempting to beat up one of the punching bags. After getting possibly the sweatiest I’ve been on this trip so far, I went to the TedTalk event. It was so interesting to listen to the talks of all backgrounds, from a Ceo to Influencers.
My favorite memory so far was the karaoke bar! Those in attendance were blessed with my rendition of “Animals”, “What Makes You Beautiful”, “Young and Beautiful”, and “Boy with Luv”.
