Office Envy

Get your game face ready for King’s Barcelona bureau, where staff are encouraged to play video games during office hours

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King's Barcelona Office
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King's Barcelona Office

Being the developer behind such hits as "Candy Crush," "Farm Heroes" and "Pet Rescue," mobile game maker King needs a strong support team to keep itself running around the clock. Luckily for them, King has 2,000 employees working across the globe, from Chicago and San Francisco, to Berlin, Tokyo and Barcelona.

The offices for its Spanish hub are like stepping into one of its popular games — full of color and lots of fun things to find.

Situated in the heart of this cosmopolitan city of Barcelona, more than 500 talented minds enter through King's doors every weekday, all of whom are greeted by an open office floor plan that's bursting with creativity.

From potted plants sitting on top of work cabinets and a forest-themed eating area, to an office walkway designed to bring Barcelona's culture to life: imagination and color are clearly key in this work environment.

Inside King's Barcelona offices: Where all the magic happens
Credit: Tétris

"The main goals for this project were to design (a) workspace and common space around the King culture and incorporate the values we hold as a company," King's project team in Barcelona told CNBC Make It via email.

"We also wanted to bring some of the local culture, architecture and design into the spaces to really make it feel like an office that fitted its location."

For the project developer behind Barcelona's office design, Tétris describes the space as one that invites "creativity and imagination," while fostering rapid problem-solving and collaboration. And this concept of brainstorming can be seen throughout, with whiteboards placed on the outside of meeting rooms — just in case employees get a flash of inspiration during their morning routine.

The meeting rooms themselves come in all shapes and sizes, from ones where staff can sit on beanbag chairs, to sleek boardrooms which pop with color.

Inside King's Barcelona offices
Credit: Tétris

During a tour of the office, Aïda Figuerola, global events at King told CNBC that every floor "has its own kitchen, its own games area and its own flavor," while themes tailor to certain areas according to their needs.

As a company, King worked closely with all of the teams in Barcelona, in order to provide them with a workspace that "gave them the tools to work more agile and efficiently, whilst also giving them a space that was fun and engaging," the project team said.

Being a major entertainment developer, it's "really important" to the group that employees take time out to play games during the day.

"The games that you can play here are 'Overwatch,' 'Call of Duty,' 'Skylanders,' 'Destiny' and a lot more. We even have an internal league, where they can compete against each other," Figuerola said during the tour.

Inside King's Barcelona offices: It's important to nourish the mind with some good literature
Credit: Tétris

While King Digital Entertainment is mainly known for its popular mobile gaming apps, that's not the only gadget employees can find when they want to do some gaming. Aside from computer games, there are consoles and tablet apps readily available, along with classics like foosball and arcade games.

If gaming developers need a break from the screen, the library offers some downtime, where employees can pick up a book or lounge in a beanbag chair and play one of the guitars or small instruments lying around.

And what about the view? In a city which has stunning sights — from the natural wonders of Barcelona's beaches and parks, to the incredible architecture by Antoni Gaudi — it's hard for any employee not to be mesmerized by the views of one of Spain's most popular metropolises — of which can be seen from the office's terrace.

Inside King's Barcelona offices: A breath of fresh air anyone? Step out onto the King Terrace
Credit: Tétris