Jan 31
Meet The Team: Our Environment Artist Antonín Šíma
QORPO Game Studio is a land of opportunities. From an architect through a recruiter to a 3D environment artist, he comes. Antonín is the talent in our company, ready to redesign the capital of Slovakia in the image of Ether Islands.
Let us introduce you to our fresh 3D Environment Artist, who’s been with us for quite some time, albeit in the role of a recruiter. Antonín comes from Liberec, a city in north Czechia, and after some time in Prague, he finally got settled in Bratislava, Slovakia. As of now, he has his sleeves rolled up, ready to rebuild and redesign our Capital City in cyberpunk fashion.
Antonín is a waft of fresh air to our sails. He’s an unbound free spirit, a source of creativity and outside-the-box thinking — no, there really isn’t a ‘box’ at all for Antonín. Let’s dive into his story!
The Architect, Recruiter, And 3D Artist — An Interview With Antonín Šíma
What preceded your beginnings at QOPRO Game Studio?
I studied architecture under the tutelage of Bořek Šípek, one of the greatest names in architecture in the Czech Republic; for instance, he worked in the office of the main castle architect at the time of president Václac Havel. Bořek was an extremely inspiring personality, and he opened the studies of Art & Architecture in the Faculty in the city of Liberec.
Unfortunately, he died before I could graduate with my master’s degree. As a fresh bachelor, I took a job as an interior designer in Liberec. Moving to Prague, after quite a while, I met my wife, one thing led to another, and we found ourselves moving to her homeland, Slovakia. This is how I got to Bratislava.
Where did your steps lead you when you first arrived in our Capital City?
First of all, I needed to find a decent job to be self-sustainable, so to speak. Luckily, I met Peter Gero, one of the leading Slovak architects, who used to be the main city architect in Hamburg, Germany. For example, he’s the man behind the Hafencity district.
Peter referred me to one of the biggest architectural studios in Slovakia — GFI. This studio, for instance, stands behind the most ambitious projects in Bratislava, such as the whole high-rise buildings around the Eurovea district among many others.
That sounds so cool! What made you move forward?
I worked there for about four years. But after I realized how things really work in this field, I lost my illusions. I simply couldn’t fit. I lost my passion and realized that I needed to find something else. The machinery of this business made all the romantic side disappear for me.
I see. What exactly led you to the gaming world?
I have been fascinated by the gaming industry since early childhood, I remember times when we spent long hours with friends playing games and marveling over how it would be to develop games of our own.
And this time, when I came to sunset my architectural design endeavors, I found job vacancies at QORPO Game Studio. They were looking for a recruiter and some kind of Unreal Engine specialist. I felt ready to jump into the game design career right away since I had broad experience in design, but I wasn’t quite ready to embrace the toolset we use here.
So you decided to try your hand at recruiting, am I right?
Yes. I wanted to get on board, and a recruiting role appeared to be a nice start. In the meantime, I was honing my skills with the toolset we use, especially Unreal Engine, to get to development.
I got access to the Udemy business account, so I started taking many courses in tools and workflows, which arestandard for QORPO. Mainly thanks to the great support of Boris Klukan, our CTO, and the guys from the 3D design team, I made it, and now I’m officially the environment artist.
From all the projects we are working on, why did you end up designing ‘New Pressburg’ in Citizen Conflict?
It came quite naturally. I jumped onto the design board right when we started to build ‘New Pressburg’ more seriously. And I really liked that project, so I asked Rastislav, our CEO, to let me do it.
I wanted to prove myself to the team and the whole company, and that’s why I wanted to make my own project from scratch. Something I can come up with, account for the whole process, and bear responsibility for the outcome in its entirety.
What do you do in your free time?
I used to be a prolific sports guy. I’m still going to the gym, working out, and keeping myself fit. But since I already have a kid, understandably, there’s not much time to focus on my hobbies. But I’m still into gaming — which makes sense, I believe.
What do you like the most about working at QORPO Game Studio?
The flexibility and freedom to grow in what makes you content. My colleagues highly inspire me, I’m blessed to be surrounded by so many talented and supportive people. On top of that, I’m finally doing design in a gaming studio.
Like What You See? Just Wait Till You See New Pressburg In Citizen Conflict!
Sure, next time, we will introduce another talent from among the QORPO team. But wait, New Pressburg is unstoppably taking shape. Stay tuned for it, we will show you previews of Antonín’s work in no time.
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