EA x Scadpro

Smarter Tools for Human-Led World Building

Role

Project Lead

Industry

Entertainment

Duration

10/18/2024 - 11/1/24

A collaborative futures project with EA exploring how AI-powered tools could enhance world-building workflows without sacrificing creative control.

EA asked us to explore how emerging AI technologies could support environmental artists while preserving the precision and authorship they rely on today. Specifically, they requested a narrative vision of what early-stage world-building might look like five years in the future.

Our team delivered a narrative storyboard paired with a speculative interface system that visualized a more efficient future workflow. The concept demonstrates how AI-assisted tools could reduce production time, deliver more consistent quality, and streamline the design process—without diminishing the creative control of environmental artists or compromising the fidelity of their work.

While initial blocking is fast, the last 20% of fidelity requires disproportionate effort—slowing iteration, limiting experimentation, and creating bottlenecks and feedback loops that delay progress across the entire team.

Environmental artists and world-builders spend significant time on technically demanding tasks such as scaling environments, optimizing assets, and refining final details. While initial blocking is fast, the last 20% of fidelity requires disproportionate effort—slowing iteration, limiting experimentation, and creating bottlenecks and feedback loops that delay progress across the entire team.

Research

We mapped the end-to-end world-building workflow using secondary research, expert accounts from EA’s team, and production pipeline documentation.

We organized the workflow into Pre-production, Production, and Post-production, then extracted pain points within each phase (pipeline bottlenecks, handoff friction, lack of iteration

Ideation

Mid-Project Pivot (client feedback)

After our initial presentation, the client extended the project by one week and requested clearer visualization of features. I realized that by focusing on a polished, professional format, I had produced a high-level presentation rather than an inspirational one. I quickly acknowledged this with my team, and together we stepped back and restructured the approach

After analyzing client feedback, I prioritized the key issues: