Behind the scenes of the Early Access of Species: Unknown, meet the team
[p]Since the launch of Early Access, we’ve been receiving an impressive amount of messages, ideas, and feedback : sometimes brilliant, sometimes surprising, sometimes very direct. And that’s exactly what we wanted: an open and human dialogue between you and the team building Species: Unknown.[/p][p]This article is here to shed some light on who is working on the game, how we improve it every week, and why your role is part of a dynamic and agile early-access approach.[/p][h2]The small team working on the Early Access[/h2][p]Species: Unknown is not a project backed by a major publisher. We are an independent studio based in Lyon, France, with a tight-knit team.[/p][p]On a daily basis, only two developers work full-time on Species: Unknown. They are supported by the rest of the studio team when needed, for interface design, art, production, or communication.[/p][p]That’s all.[/p][p]Why mention it? Because it explains our pace. We move forward, fix issues, and improve things, but at the scale of a team that is not an industrial machine.[/p][p]To keep things simple, here’s how things look at the studio right now: one team dedicated to Species: Unknown, another small team handling live-ops on previous productions (hello Ragnarock, Vestiges: Fallen Tribes, Propagation VR!), and a few people who move between projects depending on their cross-functional skills.[/p][p]Day to day, producing all the games at Wanadev involves around ten people.[/p][p]Yes, we don’t move as fast as a large studio, but we keep the same level of care and expectations, because each addition has to maintain or raise the quality you expect, and that has brought the game to 94% positive reviews so far (!)[/p][h2]A look at the people working on the EA of Species: Unknown[/h2][h3]Nicolas, Creative Director: the origin of the project and the main craftsman behind the game[/h3][p][/p][p]The idea for this game came from Nicolas a little over two years ago at the studio. He then created the first prototype of Species: Unknown. That’s how we work here: we start a prototype with one person, and once it becomes interesting, we consolidate the team around it by adding the needed skills.[/p][p]Naturally, he is now leading the creative direction of the project. Nicolas is the one guiding the team toward the experience we want players to live.[/p][p][/p][p]![]()
photo: Nico is discussing with Guilhem (UI/UX designer) about the screens of the next playable area, currently in development.[/p][p][/p][p]Being involved in the project from the very first months, he took on the responsibilities of Game & Level Design and Gameplay Programming: the game loop, the pacing, the phases : Nicolas is the one implementing most of these.[/p][p]In production, Nicolas also works on everything that relates to his creative vision for the game: from sound design to animation and level building. His sharp eye helps him excel at staging environments thanks to his work on sound and lighting. When you play Species: Unknown and think “wow, this looks really good,” it’s very often thanks to Nico.[/p][p]Right now, Nico is creating the upcoming content in the game (like the Lab, which will be the new district of the HSS Hawking), and like the rest of the team, he’s active on the studio’s Discord.[/p][p][/p][h3]Jérémy, Lead developer[/h3][p]Jérémy is the second person working full-time on the project. As lead developer, he knows the entire project infrastructure and its architecture. With his experience and engineering skills, Jérémy is the one who implements the technical systems and core features, such as multiplayer for example.[/p][p]![]()
[/p][p]Right now, Jérémy is working on refactoring the audio system in order to implement the Proximity Voice Chat you’ve been asking for a lot.[/p][p][/p][h3]Nola, Production Director[/h3][p]Nola is the production director at the studio: she oversees, schedules, and organizes the development of the different games being created in parallel. To put it simply: the game is available to download on Steam thanks to her work.[/p][p]![]()
[/p][p]Day to day, she facilitates communication within the team, keeps track of the schedule, clarifies needs, prioritizes tasks, and supports the team. With an engineering background, she knows the production pipeline extremely well. You might run into her on Discord.[/p][p][/p][h3]Johann, Lead Artist 3D[/h3][p]Johann brings his expertise to all topics related to 3D modeling at the studio. Day to day, he switches between Blender and Unreal Engine. He also works with freelance 3D artists when we need external talent.[/p][p]![]()
[/p][p]On Species: Unknown right now, he’s collaborating with Nicolas on the next district of the HSS Hawking.[/p][p][/p][h3]Guilhem, UX/UI designer[/h3][p]The menus? The screens? All the little elements that help players find what they’re looking for — that’s Guilhem’s work. He brings his expertise to everything related to interfaces. His main tools are Figma and Unreal Engine.[/p][p]![]()
[/p][p]Right now, alongside other studio projects, he’s creating the screens that will be used in the new district of the HSS Hawking.[/p][p][/p][h3]Barthélémy, Level design and QA[/h3][p]Barth is an apprentice at WanadevStudio, supporting Nico on the level design of the upcoming area and staying very close to community feedback. He regularly playtests the game in depth to validate new features and hunt down bugs. You’ll also find Barth on Discord every day![/p][p][/p][p]![]()
[/p][h3]François, Marketing Director[/h3][p]François is the conductor behind all communication surrounding Species: Unknown and the studio’s other games. Responsible for the game’s visibility, he makes sure every update, every new feature, and every event finds the right audience, whether on Steam, Discord, or social media. His daily work involves listening to the community, responding to player expectations, highlighting feedback, organizing announcements, and coordinating launch campaigns. You’ll often see him on Discord, so feel free to say hello![/p][p]![]()
photo: François at the Gamescom[/p][h3]We also rely on external talent for specific topics.[/h3][p]You may have already come across Ambre on the studio’s Discord. Ambre Jenffer is a Creature Artist, working mainly on concept art and the modeling of the nightmarish creatures you encounter in Species: Unknown.[/p][p]For the game’s original music, you can thank Dean Kopri, with whom we love collaborating on musical compositions. We had already worked together on several previous productions (including Propagation: Paradise Hotel). On Species: Unknown, Dean composed the music featured in the game as well as in the official trailer.[/p][h2]A team mostly working in our time zone[/h2][p]We all work from Lyon, on the Paris time zone, during the week. This means responses may be slower if you write to us in the middle of our night, and patches are scheduled around European hours.[/p][h2]We really do read your feedback[/h2][p]We read absolutely everything: bugs and suggestions on Discord, discussions on the Steam forums, reviews (even the toughest ones), and we enjoy regularly checking out your Twitch streams and YouTube coverage.[/p][p]Every message is read by someone on the team as soon as possible, even if we can’t reply to all of them. Some ideas make it into the game or will in the future, while others require more time.[/p][h2]Understanding and reproducing bugs: a real challenge[/h2][p]There are now tens of thousands of you playing (which is incredible!), and that exposes us to a huge number of situations we simply can’t test internally. Thanks to you, we discover new unexpected behaviors and rare bugs every week.[/p][p]The hardest part isn’t fixing bugs, it’s figuring out how to reproduce them. Many only appear under very specific conditions. That’s why your detailed messages on Discord, your videos, screenshots, and explanations of the context are so valuable.[/p][p][/p][h2]The Roadmap[/h2][p]If you want a detailed overview of the major upcoming steps and updates, everything is summarized in our dedicated article here:[/p][p][/p][p]![]()
[/p][h2]Why your reviews truly matter[/h2][p]Reviews are more than just an indicator of the quality of our work. For a small team, they are a real source of motivation. Reading a positive review after spending an entire day chasing a bug has a genuine impact.[/p][p]If you enjoy the game , even simply because “it’s fun with friends”, the best way to support its development is to say so by leaving a review on Steam.[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][h2]To wrap up: Thank you[/h2][p]Early Access isn’t an easy path for a small studio, but it’s an incredibly exciting one. Everything that has happened since launch (streams, discussions, feedback, encouragement…) confirms our desire to keep going. Many of you tell us the game has huge potential, so we’re going to do our best to reach it.[/p][p]We hope this behind-the-scenes look brings you a little closer to the team building Species: Unknown.[/p][p]See you soon on the missions.[/p]