We recently kicked off a new series of live Q&A sessions on our Discord, where we hang out with the community, answer your questions, and share behind-the-scenes insights into the development of Fading Echo.
Our first session took place on August 28th, and it was a blast. Thank you to everyone who joined us live! If you missed it, no worries, this blog post is a recap of some of the best questions and answers from the session.
We’re planning to host more Q&As in the future, so if you’d like to be part of the next one, make sure to join our Discord
Let’s dive into what we covered during the first session 👇
🌍 Meet the Team Behind Fading Echo
Elise (Producer):
Hi All! I'm Elise, the Producer working with Amaury (and other amazing people!) on Fading Echo. I'm originally from Australia and ended up in France via Sweden!
Amaury (Art Director):
Hey everyone! So excited to chat with all of you. I'm Amaury, Art Director of Fading Echo!
Is the FE team international?
Like Pokémon badges, we would like to collect them all! We have people from 4 continents so far. The development team is primarily based in Lyon, France, but we’re a global crew. That doesn’t mean some of us haven’t been scarred by Vegemite, though…
🎨 French References & Unusual Inspirations
Will we see French references in the game?
Oui. We definitely want to highlight some fun French themes in the game. It’s as much for us as it will be for the players. We want to bring our personality and passions into everything we create.
What non-game references inspired Fading Echo?
It depends on the topic, but we absorbed a lot of comic books and were inspired by dramedy-style South Korean films like Parasite, as well as Japanese anime, great for capturing our desert punk tone.
What’s the strangest source of inspiration for the game?
We’ve spent more time than we care to admit watching videos of underwater volcanoes… if that counts? Also: nature documentaries, obscure TV shows from our childhoods, and museum sculptures. We try not to limit our creativity, we’ll take inspiration from anywhere.
🌀 Complex Realities
Is it harder to make a game with multiple realities? How do you keep it coherent?
Yes, definitely. Since the realities are all intertwined, each time we change one, we have to think about how that impacts the others. It’s a constant balancing act!
🛠️ A World Years in the Making
How big is the dev team?
We have around 20 people actively working full-time on Fading Echo, including everyone from interns to studio directors. We also collaborate with about 10 freelancers, who are crucial to the game’s development.
How long has the team been working on the game?
We started building Fading Echo almost 3 years ago, but the universe itself was imagined long before that.
Has the story changed over time as the world developed?
Oh yes, many times! The story has a really unique tone: it’s dark and real but also light and comical. Finding that balance has taken a lot of work. Fun fact: Fading Echo started out as a tabletop RPG about 10 years ago. So we’re building on a massive IP, but the game story is a new creation, something we want to make truly special and memorable.
✏️ From 2D to 3D: Designing Characters Like "One"
Do you draw characters on paper first, or go straight to digital?
We spent a lot of time in the 2D phase getting the look of the characters just right. A big inspiration for the art style was Jamie Hewlett (Tank Girl, Gorillaz). It looked amazing in 2D, but replicating that in 3D was a huge challenge. We went through a lot of iterations to make sure the characters felt as alive in-game as they do on paper.
🌊 Flow with us
✨ Wishlist Fading Echo
Steam | Epic Games Store | PlayStation Store | Xbox Store
💬 Join the Echoverse on Discord
And follow the adventure:
📝 Sign Up for the Alpha Playtest