EA Motive Is Using Fans From The Community To Help Build The Dead Space Remake

With the Dead Space remake officially announced, the question is now up in the air as to whether it will live up to the nostalgia of the original. It's a big task rebuilding a beloved game, something that Capcom managed perfectly with Resident Evil 2 Remake. To take on this gargantuan task, EA Motive has drafted in fans from the Dead Space community to help ensure it lives up to those high standards.

Speaking to IGN, the game's senior producer Philippe Ducharme revealed the team has created a community council to assist in development, something that is said to have similarly happened with Command and Conquer Remastered and Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

“We don't want to be in siloed and create our own bubble of the game we're making. So from the conception, we've reached out to members of the community to create a community council to be a sounding board for what we were making. Making sure that if we're deciding to make a change, we want to be able to explain it and get told if, ‘No, what are you doing? What were you thinking? You're actually breaking the game, why are you changing this,’”

The team at EA Motive is reportedly meeting up with this council every two to three weeks, allowing them unfiltered access to the game to ensure it's the best it can be, and taking their feedback into consideration.

"We've received some extremely valid feedback from that group. We're trying to meet with them on a two, three week basis to show them content and have that ongoing discussion. And they've had access, unfiltered access, to what we're making from a very early point in production. Usually, when we receive feedback, the game is almost shipped or done and you're like, ‘Aw, I wish I knew that. I could have fixed this, what they're saying, that it's not good."

The game's creative director Roman Campos-Oriola also added that "what's really cool is you discover a thing that otherwise you might have discovered reading Reddit two weeks after launching the game."

Having fans, who are undoubtedly the toughest critics, at the heart of the development process is a fantastic idea. It helps shape the game into something that's built for the community, rather than another corporate venture that misses the point. We'll reserve judgement until the full release, but it's sounding promising from this interview.

What do you think about EA Motive's decision to involve fans in the development? Let us know in the comments below.