Keen Software House

Jeux vidéo

Prague

Meet us

At Keen, we've got our own special way of doing things. We're spread out all over the world, but we've come up with some routines to stay connected and have a nice time together.

First off, we've got our Monthly breakfast meetings. Now, don't let the name fool you - we actually meet up at 4 PM at our HQ in Oranzeria. We call it breakfast because for some of our team, it really is the crack of dawn where they are! We all get together (some of us online), dig into some delicious food, and catch up on what's happening with Keen and our sister company, GoodAI

Once a year, we go all out with our Spring party. It's a whole week of fun in Prague, and we invite everyone from the company to join in. We hit the trails for some hiking, test our wits in escape rooms, get competitive with board games, and even throw a big barbecue. Our HR team always plans something!

And because we're a bunch of tech enthusiasts at heart, we've got our monthly Game nights. We all pile into the big project room at Oranzeria, fire up the massive screen, and play some video games together. It's a great way to unwind and have some friendly competition.

We really believe in mixing work and play here at Keen. These events aren't just about having fun (though that's a big part of it!). They're about building real connections with our colleagues, no matter where in the world we all happen to be. It's just our way of keeping the GoodAI and Keen Software House friendly close-knit and making sure we all actually enjoy spending time together.

Even though we are two companies, each with slightly different activities, we spend a lot of time together as a team and even our activities are more or less common. Of course, the individual teams at Keen then have their own routines when it comes to meetings or even their various random team building and team meetings. We'll be happy to tell you more about that in the interview.

Our home rather than office

"My long-term dream has always been to have a headquarters for our team. A place where we can come together, collaborate, and achieve great things! A place that we can fit to our needs and wishes, a place that has cozy interiors and a comfortable garden. A place where our people feel good. Also, the very name "Keen Software House" suggests that we should have a "house"!

I believe that what surrounds us has an impact on what we create. If there are ugly things around you, you are more likely to produce low-quality products. If you are instead surrounded by inspiration, you are more likely to produce beautiful things. We should be raising our standards, not stagnating or declining.

In 2019 we were finally able to achieve this goal. We finally found a property in Prague that has all the attributes we need, the beautiful 18th Century villa, Oranžérie."** - Marek Rosa the CEO**

Facts

26

developers

Sander de Visser, Lead Game Designer

Sander is one of the Team leaders of our game design team, which takes care of our flagship game Space engineers. Fate brought him to Prague in 2020, where he have got the chance to get more familiar with KSWH and the game. Since then he is taking care of our team of designers making sure everything is running smoothly.

Sander is a big Warhammer 40k nerd - He loves riding motorbikes - and has a fascination for mechanical engineering.

He loves to travel. He has been around most of Europe and (parts of) central and south-east Asia and Australia. At this moment Sander is one of our fully remote employees working from his home in Leeuwarden.

Kateřina Červená, Advance QA Tester

Katka started working at Keen Software House in November 2018 as a Junior QA Tester.

"It was my first job in game development, so I had no experience at all. However, I have always been an enthusiastic gamer and if I found a bug in games, I reported it to the developers! After a year at Keen, I was promoted from junior to Regular and after another two years to Advanced QA Tester, which is my current position. When I joined the company, I started working on Space Engineers, which was just getting ready to move out of Early Access. This was in February of 2019. Even after almost four years, working on Space Engineers is still a challenge as the game is extremely complex. That complexity is what I enjoy about this job, the creative atmosphere when we're figuring out how best to test a new feature in a game, or the almost detective-like work of finding bugs. This is where cooperating with my colleagues in the QA team is irreplaceable and wonderful! They have helped me so much and their advice and guidance were especially crucial for me during my time as a Junior. As I gradually gained experience and our QA team grew, I also started to provide support and advice to our new QA colleagues. I find it really fulfilling to pass on my experience, explain the work processes, or discuss possible solutions. I also like that our company believes that every idea deserves to be heard so every team member can make an impact. I am delighted that my work at Keen allows me to constantly grow and learn new things. There is nothing worse than stagnation! When I started working as a junior, I never imagined that in a few years I would be helping to train new colleagues. I can't wait to see what else I learn at Keen.”

Jan Trauške, Art Lead

Jan joined the company in the summer of 2016 as a junior 3D Artist and worked my way up to his current role.

"One of the reasons I was able to progress into the Art lead position is very supportive leadership. Our leaders are always there to help, but also challenge me, so I could grow and develop my artistic skills. Here I have to really praise the guidance of my previous lead and my friend Natiq Aghayev, who passed so much of his experience and skills onto me. The company really values its people and cares for them. I hope to be able to show my team the same care and leadership he showed me. As a 3D artist working on a project like Space Engineers, you are usually making the assets from scratch, which gives you a lot of freedom and room for creativity. There are of course rules and guidelines that need to be followed, but generally, they don't limit you that much. Sometimes it can be quite challenging to come up with something out of the blue, but the greater satisfaction it brings when you see players enjoying your work is an incredible reward for such a challenging task. I have to say that working in Keen is a pleasure and I get to work on so many interesting projects with some of the best colleagues I have ever met. I am really excited to see what the future brings to us and what other awesome projects I can be part of!”

Tomáš Oplatek, Advanced Game Programmer with AI specialization

Tomáš started working at Keen Software House in 2019 as a Programmer

"I worked as a web developer for a couple of years, but while I enjoyed the programming aspect of the job, I never felt very invested in what we were creating. And since games have always been my passion, I have decided to try switching to game development. Keen was recommended to me by a friend - it was a good match since I have used C# my whole career and I liked the creative aspect of our games.
In my free time, I try to stay active, I enjoy running very much. I am also an active musician - I play the piano and teach African drumming. In the time that is left I like playing games, these days primarily single-player. I try to mix up the genres to try out different games, some of the recent titles I have played include Shadowrun Returns, Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, What Remains of Edith Finch, and Horizon Zero Dawn."