Playtesting Dead Space!

Playtesting Dead Space™

Here at Electronic Arts Playtesting, we give you, the player, a voice in the development process, helping ensure our games are always made with a Player First mindset. In this article, we take a look into the role that Playtesting had in the remake of the sci-fi survival horror classic Dead Space™, which dropped in January!

To learn more, we spoke to Benoit Lefort, User Experience Researcher at Electronic Arts Playtesting, and Eric Baptizat, Senior Game Director for Dead Space.

Hey Eric! Could you tell us a bit about why you think Playtesting is important?

Playtesting is a crucial part of video game development. For the development team, it’s an eye-opening experience as it’s the first time we can put the game in the hands of real players. Not only does it allow us to have a broader group of people trying the game, but it also opens to a larger breadth of player profiles.

The production of a video game is often an iterative process - there are several trials (and errors) before finding the final version of a feature. Playtesting those features early on and several times during the production of the game allows us to see how far - or close - we are from our final objective and if we managed to address the feedback we received from the players.

There are SO many things you can learn from a Playtest! Some are more obvious, like difficulty peaks, progression balancing issues, navigation problems etc., but some can be much more subtle, and can only be found through observing real players interacting with our game like excitement, boredom, and unclear feedback.

The end goal of game development is to put it in the hands of players. The sooner we can test an experience, the sooner we can judge its quality. Playtests push the development teams to face this reality, even if the game is not yet complete, and gives us a better perspective of the issues and priorities to tackle.

Benoit, can you tell us a bit about how early on we started Playtesting Dead Space?

It was as early as the concept phase! If there’s even an idea of a concept, it can be Playtested! These very early Playtests are crucial in helping us validate the building blocks and core pillars of the game that inform the rest of production.

So how did Playtesting impact the development of Dead Space?

From the early concept phase up until the final polish, Playtesting helped the team by providing them with answers you can only get from talking with and watching real players interact with the game. Do they understand the objectives? Are they dismembering? Are they having fun? Are they lost? Are they scared? The list goes on! This data is used to inform and guide the developers, and ensure that their design always prioritizes the best player experience possible.

Do you have a specific example of how Playtester feedback changed something in the game?

Several changes were made to the ADS calibration objective in Chapter 4. Since this is a unique piece of gameplay, we had to find the most straightforward and efficient way to inform players about the new mechanic and controls, all while being in a high pressure situation. Thanks to player feedback, we implemented more descriptive objectives, more intuitive information layout, and brighter O2 stations!

Were there any stand out moments from the Playtests that jump to mind?

The first time a Playtester, who was new to the Dead Space franchise, managed to complete the game was a very special moment. They had no idea what they were in store for, and were blown away by the experience!

Another stand out moment was at the very beginning of the project, where the idea of a remake was just being pitched, we got to talk to fans of horror games and Dead Space to try and understand what made the original game so special. Seeing how passionate our Playtesters were about games was eye-opening, and fueled our desire to make a truly unique game!

Dead Space is just one of the many titles that you, the players, have influenced! In the coming months, we hope to share more examples of how you help us to Inspire the Future of Play. Massive thank you to all our amazing Playtesters!

- The Electronic Arts Playtesting team