Video Game Music and Sound Design Jobs, Salaries and Education The GameSoundCon Game Audio Industry Survey is the largest survey of professional game composers and sound designers for the game audio industry. The 2023 survey ran from May 15 through August 15, 2023, and was promoted on various game audio social media, newsgroups and industry/professional websites. 645 people responded, 602 of whom were working professionals (not students, hobbyists or ‘aspiring’). This represents the a 7% increase in response rate over the 2021 survey. 555 stated that less than 50% of their income was from non-audio related sources (an unrelated ‘day job’). New in this year's survey Better salary breakdown between North America and the rest of the world Game Audio majors and minors Game Engine/Audio Engine combinations We continue to break the industry into three main categories of games: · Large Budget Games. Often referred to as “AAA” games, these represent well-funded console or PC titles from major game publishers and developers. They typically have team consisting of hundreds of people and budgets of tens of millions of USD per year. · MidCore: these are smaller scale games with smaller budgets and shorter schedules than AAA games, but represent professionally produced and developed products. Game team sizes vary, but are typically from 15-50 people · Indie. These are small scales, often self-financed via Kickstarter or other methods with team sizes of 20 or less. Note that we generally do not consider 'hobbyist" games to be 'indie' games. Of all professional respondents: 49% said they worked on AAA games 29% said they worked on "Midcore" games 17% said they worked on Indie games Of course the line between the different types of games is impossible to draw cleanly. However, it still provides a useful way of comparing similar game types, so that we are not comparing the composing rates of a AAA blockbuster with a 4 person indie team. Topline Summary: Game Composer and Sound Designer Salaries Employment Status More than 6 in 10 people working in game audio are employees of companies, though some 'moonlighting' occurs. Salaried Employees Average Salary: North America: $128,511 Rest of World: $71,300 Performance Royalties Less than 1 in 5 game composers received any PRO income in 2022, for any game they have ever composed for. Freelancers were more likely to have received PRO game income (21%) than employee composers (15%) Freelancers Freelancers have lower average annual income ($80,788) than salaried employees, but freelancers also had some of the highest annual incomes. Education Slightly more than 8 in 10 game audio professionals have a bachelors degree or higher, mostly (83%) music/audio related 6% reported having both a music/audio and a technical degree Almost 1 in 5 (18%) reported having a major or minor specifically in game music or game sound design Gender/Diversity The industry is 86% male (slightly higher than the 84% reported in 2021) 75% of respondents were white/Caucasian, slightly less than the 2021 survey, with Hispanic/Latino (9.3%) and Asian (6.6%) being the next largest categories. Video Game Music and Sound Design: Industry Makeup We separate out salaried employees from freelancers, recognizing the fact that some salaried employees also do some freelancing on the side ("moonlighters"). Within salaried employees, we further break down people into employees of game companies and employees of audio companies; the latter would be an audio ‘outsourcing firm’ that provides audio services to game companies, but is more than just a single freelancing individual. Finally, because of the large discrepancy between compensation in North America and the rest of the world, this year, we have reported on those two regions separately for areas involving money. For ease of comparison, all monetary values in this survey report have been converted to USD ($). Except where noted, most of the salary information removes "Audio Programmers." This is a job that typically considered technical/engineering, which typically pays more than a composer or sound designer. Likewise, students, unpaid interns, or hobbyist/aspiring respondents were left out of income/salary results. Among respondents, 64% reported they worked in game audio as a salaried employee, up slightly from 2021. 50% of those worked at a game company, with 11% working for an audio company. 30% said they were pure freelancers (down from 34% in 2021), while 12% said they worked as a full-time salaried employee, but also did some freelance work on the side. Game Audio Salaries How much do game composers and sound designers make? We asked salaried employees working in game music and sound design what their total gross compensation was last year, including bonuses, but not including indirect compensation such as health insurance premiums. Salaried employees refer to employees of game companies or of audio companies that provide services to game companies. A salaried employee receives a regular paycheck, and is typically eligible for benefits such as paid sick days, vacation, health insurance, retirement plan, etc. As noted above, approximately 12% of salaried employees also do some freelance 'moonlighting' in game audio on the side. North America game audio salaries Game audio salaries in North America average $128,511 with an average employee having 10.1 years of experience. This represents a 12% salary increase over the 2021 survey, significantly higher than overall wage growth (8.3%) in the US over the same time. Men out-earn women/nonbinary respondents, although men also have more experience on average (10.6 years to 7.8 years), which may account for the difference. Previous surveys have shown a correlation between years of experience and higher salaries. Salaried Employees: Excluding North America Game Audio Salaries in the US are significantly higher than those in the rest of the world. Note that salaries reported do not include fringe benefits such as healthcare, vacation or other benefits, so it can be difficult to compare total compensation between the US and the rest of the world. (Note: Salaries were reported in local currency and converted to USD based on the exchange rate as of Aug 15, 2023). It should be noted that in the tech industry as a whole, pay for US employees is generally much higher than outside the us . Game Audio Salaries excluding North America The average game audio salary in Europe and the rest of world is $71,300, with an average experience of 9 years. It should be noted that both the average and median ($60,095) salary outside of North America is significantly higher (21% higher) than the 2021 survey Game Audio Salaries: Excluding North America Annual Income vs Experience for Salaried Employees in North America Not surprisingly, the more experience employees have working in game music and sound design, the higher their salaries. This was true in both North America and the rest of the world. Note that we excluded "audio programmers" in the charts below because these tend to be considered "technical/engineering" disciplines rather than "music" or "sound design" jobs. Do game composers get royalties from their PRO? Royalty income from PRO’s is uncommon in games (see a detailed article on PRO’s and game music). Although marginally higher than 2021 (16%), among both freelancers and employees, 18% of game composers reported receiving PRO income from any game score they had ever written. We specifically asked the question: “Did you receive any payments in 2022 from a Performing Rights Organization (PRO) for any game scores you have written, no matter when they were written?” Additional Income Opportunities In addition to salaries or contracting fees, game audio employees or freelancers report being eligible for additional compensation, as described below. “Per unit royalty” is a specific payment for each copy sold. “Bonus based on Sales” is a bonus paid when certain sales milestones are reached, such as “$10,000 bonus if the game sells 5,000,000 units.” Among employees of companies, cash bonuses, bonus based on sales and company stock were the most common additional compensation types. Among freelancers, additional compensation is rarer, with the exception of game soundtrack sales, or per-unity royalties, particularly from indie developers Note: the charts below show the percentage of people eligible for the additional payments, not the amount of payments Video Game Music and Sound Design Freelancer Income Unsurprisingly, freelancers had the greatest range of income, however their average and median income is significantly less than that of a salaried employee. (Note: Average and Median income calculations removed freelancers with more than 50% of their income from non-audio sources; i.e. a 'day job.') This year we broke down freelance income into North America and "Rest of World." As with salaried employees, Freelancers in North America earn more than Freelancers in the rest of the world. However the discrepancy in salaries (80%) is somewhat more than that for freelancer income (67%). Game Audio Freelancer Annual Income: North America Average Income: $80,788 Median Income: $48,100 Annual freelance income for game audio vs years of experience Game Audio Freelancer Annual Income: Excluding North America Average Income: $48,182 Median Income: $33,000 Video Game Composer: Freelancer Game Music Contract Terms The majority of music composition for games is done as "Work for Hire," where the copyright of the music is owned by the game developer or publisher. In indie or midcore games, it is more likely that a composer retains copyright ownership of the music they create for the game, generally to compensate for a lower up-front fee. These percentages are virtually unchanged from the 2021 survey. An overwhelming majority of game composers of AAA and Midcore games compose under a Work for Hire agreement. For freelance composers of indie games, licensing is more common (56%). How much do freelance game composers charge? 58% of freelance game music composers said they typically charged on a 'per finished minute' of music rate. The rate is dependent on the game size, with AAA's unsurprisingly being the highest. In AAA games the most common rates were between $1,000 and $2,000 per minute, although much higher (> $3,500) are also common. These numbers are somewhat higher than 2021. The mid-core rate has crept up a bit as well, though with most around $1,000 or lower. For indies, although $100/minute is a common rate, many more composers reported charging more than $100 than $100, with some as high as $2,000/minute. Average annual income for freelancers is lower than that of salaried employees. However some of the highest annual incomes were from freelancers Freelancers: Other Compensation Compared with salaried employees, freelancers generally have fewer types of additional compensation. However, in indie and midcore games, additional compensation from game soundtracks is not uncommon. Additionally, freelancers are more likely to be eligible for a per-unit sales royalty particularly for indie or midcore games. These are often negotiated to compensate for a lower up-front fee. Audio Programmers The job of Audio Programmer generally is not associated with the creation of music or sound effects. Rather it is primarily considered to be a computer programming job, writing game engine code, doing detailed audio implementation or creating and maintaining audio tools. This is confirmed by noticing that every respondent except one who listed their job as 'audio programmer' stated they had a Computer or other technical degree. As noted, most of the salary data in this report has excluded the role of "Audio Programmer" because, as a 'programming' job, it tends to have a higher salary than that of composer or sound designer. Although we are reporting the average and median salary of the audio programmers who responded to the survey, the relatively small number (less than 20), should be considered when reviewing the salaries listed below. Game Audio Programmer Salary: Average Salary $148,166 Median Salary $105,000 Game Audio Tools What are the most popular game audio tools? Game Audio middleware remains extremely popular. However in AAA game development, custom developed solutions are also very common. The most popular audio engine depends on the game type, with Audiokinetic's Wwise engine being very popular with AAA game studios, while FMOD Studio is very popular with Indies and mid-sized games. Compared with the 2021 survey there are a few changes. A larger percentage of indie and mid-core games using FMOD Studio A larger percentage of games overall using Unreal’s built-in audio engine Note: each audio engine listed in the chart represents at least two responses. Other responses included: Fabric, Elias, Minecraft, QLabs Important note: For both of the following graphs, the numbers (bar height) represent the number of users of a particular tool or engine, not the number of games using the tools. So, an AAA game that has several sound designers will report higher numbers in the graphs below than an indie game that has only one or two, even though each may represent a single game in development. New this year, we also looked at Game Engine/Audio Engine combinations. That is, what are the most common pairing of game engines with game audio engines? For games using Unity, FMOD Studio is the most popular audio engine, slightly more popular than Unity+Wwise. Both are significantly more popular than Unity's built-in audio engine. For games using Unreal, Wwise is the most commonly used audio engine, with Unreal's built-in audio engine the second most common. For games that use their own custom engine (common in AAA games), Wwise was the most popular audio engine, with a "custom built audio engine" the second most common. Game Audio Job Roles The tasks required by game sound designers and composers sometimes go beyond just creating music or sound design. In addition to the actual creation of music or sound effects, we also looked at: 1) Using Middleware. This typically means taking wave files and incorporating them into a game audio tool such as Wwise, FMOD, Fabric, etc. 2) Game Integration. This is the act of hooking up interactive music or sound design to the game itself. It is often, though not always, done using visual or text-based programming languages such as Blueprints or C# The graphs below show what job roles people who work as composers or sound designers do in addition to their music or sound design work. As expected, the jobs performed by a person can vary based the game size (AAA, Midcore, indie). The charts show the tasks in addition to the primary role people did, by percentage. For example, the chart below shows that less than 15% of AAA sound designers also did music composition, but more than 60% of indie sound designers also composed music. The majority of sound designers on all game types did both sound design, middleware implementation and game integration. As might be expected, in AAA games, sound designers are unlikely to also be composers, but in indie and midcore games, that is much more common. For game composers, in AAA game development, almost 4 in 10 composers do nothing except compose. However, a similar percentage use audio middleware. Among midcore games, a significant number of composers also do sound design and use audio middleware and/or implement sounds into the game engine. Education in Game Audio What Levels of Education do Game Composers and Sound Designers have? Although most game audio jobs don't require specific credentials, across both freelancers and salaried professionals, 86% reported having at least a 2-year's Associates degree, with the majority having a Bachelors degree or higher. The numbers were similar for both salaried employees of game companies and freelancers. 86% is slightly higher than was reported in the 2021 survey. What Degrees do game composers and sound designers have? Unsurprisingly, the most common degree among employees of companies is a music or audio-related degree at 77%. This is a 10% increase over the 2021 survey, where 70% said they had a music or audio degree. In addition, 6% of audio employees reported having degrees in both music and a technical field, typically computer science in addition to music. Other degree types varied greatly ranging from Philosophy to Journalism. New this year, we asked specifically if they respondent had a "major or minor in Game Music and/or Sound." 18% reported that this was their degree type (See our listing of colleges and universities offering video game music and sound design degrees. ) Game Music and Sound Design Education: Recent Hires For those considering a career in game audio, it can be useful to look at the education levels and degrees of recent hires. We define “recent hire” as a salaried employee with two or fewer years of experience in the industry. Among recent hires, 92% have completed a Bachelors degree or higher. This is significantly higher than 2021 (78%). Best degrees for Game Audio: Recent Hires Among recent hires of companies (non-freelancers), one in four (25%) reported that they had a major or minor in game music and/or sound. Another 67% said they had a music, sound or related degree, with the remaining listing a technical degree (typically Computer science). Less than one percent said their degree was not a music related or technical degree; these included Business/marketing, plumbing (!) and theater. The average salaries of recent hires is significantly higher than we reported in 2021. However we did not break that down across geographic regions in 2021. We will update this report once we re-analyze the 2021 data. North America 2023 Game Audio Salaries for Recent Hires Average Salary of Recent Hires: $79,012 Median Salary of Recent Hires: $66,560 "Rest of World" 2023 Game Audio Salaries for Recent Hires Average Salary of Recent Hires: $38,285 Median Salary of Recent Hires: $33,020 Gender and Diversity Game audio overall is a male-dominated profession, though with a small increase in the percentage of non-male respondents. Game Music and Sound Design Salaries of Employees by Gender The salaries of game audio employees for women are generally less than that of their male counterparts. In our 2021 survey the difference in salary was determined most likely to be attributed to the difference years of experience-- men had higher average and median experience-- and not to any particular systemic bias based on gender. This is a different outcome from a previous look into the salary discrepancy between men and women in game audio in 2016, which did find such a bias. We have not yet performed the statistical analysis to see if this continues to be the case in 2023. North America: Game Audio Salaries and experience for employees (not freelancers) Game Music and Sound Design Gender Makeup The game audio industry continues to be predominantly male, particularly for freelancers. For all respondents, 15% of game audio professionals are not male. Considering only non-freelancers, in the US/Canada, almost one in six employees are Female or nonbinary. In the rest of the world, approximately nine in ten are male. The overall numbers are not significantly changed from the 2021 results. However, among freelancers, the number of male respondents increased, from 81% to 87%.; Female/nonbinary freelancers decreased from 19% to 12% (note: numbers may not add to exactly 100 due to rounding). Race/Ethnicity in Game Music and Sound In 2021 we started asking respondents their race or ethnicity. White/Caucasian represents 74.7% of respondents, down slightly from 2021 (77.6%) with Hispanic/Latino (9.3%) and Asian (6.6%) being the next largest categories. Other responses included Jewish/Sematic, Caribbean, Italian American, Mediterranean, Moroccan, Māori, Indian and "Prefer not to respond" A note on statistical validity While this survey attempts to gather and analyze data from the industry in as neutral a fashion as possible, it is not a rigorous MIT-PhD-thesis level report! The 2021 Game Audio Survey, like any survey, has inherent limits and biases. These may include, but are not limited to: The survey was publicized via social media and email networks and known audio groups and via some major music industry web sites. This may bias results towards the ‘more connected’ composers and sound designers in the industry, which likely biases salary and/or education numbers a bit high A small number of very anomalous looking responses were all or in part discarded. This may result in pre-conception bias. A very small number of responses were not self-consistent. These were analyzed manually to determine intent or discarded. This may result in pre-conception bias. In order to increase participation, survey questions directly related to compensation were optional. Some number of participants may have misrepresented their data. Read more at the GameSoundCon blog Contact Brian Schmidt Executive Director, GameSoundCon Facebook: Facebook.com/GameSoundCon Twitter: @GameSound

How to Submit your Game Soundtrack to the GRAMMYs After more than 20 years, video game music has its own GRAMMY category! Last year, the Recording Academy, the organization that puts on the GRAMMY Awards award the first, “Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media” GRAMMY to Stephanie Economou for her score soundtrack to Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök The award is described as follows: Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media Recognizes excellence in score soundtrack albums comprised predominantly of original scores and created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current video game or other interactive media released within the qualification period. What does this mean for game composers, and how can you submit your game soundtrack for this year’s GRAMMY Awards? TL/DR If you released or plan to release a game soundtrack between Oct 1, 2022 and Sept 15 2023, your soundtrack may be eligible for a GRAMMY. If you are not a member of the Recording Academy, an existing member of the Recording Academy can submit on your behalf, your record label may be able to submit, or the Game Audio Network Guild can facilitate the submission of your soundtrack. Since many of us in video game music may not be familiar with the GRAMMY process, we wanted to answer some commonly asked questions relevant to game composers and music producers who might be interested in the new Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media category. What is eligible to be entered for the game soundtrack GRAMMY? First, it is the game soundtrack that is submitted, not the game itself. The GRAMMYs are all about the music. The new category is for video game original score soundtracks. The definition of an original score soundtrack specifies that they are “comprised predominantly of an original score and created specifically … for a video game or other interactive media.“ To meet this definition, at least two-thirds of the musical tracks must have been used in the game and “greater than 50 percent of the music must be derived from new content that was released during the GRAMMY eligibility year for which it is entered.” Note that the GRAMMYs strive to recognize new original music content. Therefore, soundtracks of the following are generally NOT eligible for submission in the game soundtrack category (though they may be eligible in other categories): Soundtracks released in prior years; GRAMMYs will not be awarded retroactively Albums of game music covers Soundtracks that consist primarily of licensed music, not written specifically for the game. (Though these may be entered in the best compilation album category.) Who can make a submission? GRAMMY submissions may be submitted by a current voting or professional member of the Recording Academy or by a registered media company. I’m not a member. How can I get my game’s soundtrack submitted this year? Application for individual membership in the Recording Academy can only be made during a brief period, typically in the winter. Because the membership window for this year has already closed, it is too late to apply to be a member and submit for this year’s awards yourself. However, if you are not currently a member yourself, you have a three options: If your soundtrack was published by a music label, submission may be done via that label. Find a member to submit on your behalf. The Game Audio Network Guild can facilitate your submission. Please contact them at grammy [at] audiogang.org. You do not have to be a member of the Game Audio Network Guild for them to facilitate your submission I released a soundtrack for an indie game I did. Is that eligible? How should that be submitted? Yes! An indie game soundtrack is eligible. It can be submitted using one of the three options above When is the eligibility period? The eligibility period is Oct 1, 2022, through September 15, 2023. This means that the the game soundtrack must have been released between those dates, and a significant amount of the music must have been from a game also released during those dates to qualify for the award to be given out at the 66th GRAMMY Awards in 2024. Can I submit an album of game music covers? Not in this category. The Best Score Soundtrack for a Video Game or Other Interactive Media is for original score soundtracks; i.e. the ‘official game soundtrack.’ When are the submission deadlines? The official dates have been published here: https://www.recordingacademy.com/awards/rules-guidelines. Note that if you are using G.A.N.G. to facilitate your submission, their deadlines are be a bit earlier, to allow time for them to process your submission. What constitutes a ‘release’? A release can be either physical or digital. For a release to be eligible as a soundtrack album, a release must be available via General Distribution in the U.S., defined as the nationwide release of a recording via brick and mortar stores, third party on-line retailers and/or applicable digital streaming services. A score soundtrack must contain at least five different tracks (different pieces, not different mixes) and have a total playing time of at least 15 minutes or it may have any number of tracks if the total playing time is at least 30 minutes. Please see https://www.recordingacademy.com/awards/faq for more details. What about new content for an ongoing, episodic game or other Downloadable Content (DLC)? To be eligible, a soundtrack must meet BOTH of the following criteria: a) The soundtrack must have been released during the eligibility period b) More than 50% of the music on an otherwise eligible game soundtrack must be derived from new content that was released in the game during the eligibility period. When in doubt, reach out to the Recording Academy What should I have ready when I’m ready to submit? The submission will require album credit information to be uploaded. Title, Artist [composer(s)], release date of the music and the game, as well as streaming links to the soundtrack, Album Liner notes with credits and Album UPC or ISRC numbers. You can see a list of the required information here. Finally, this is new territory for the Recording Academy! There may be questions and concerns as details get dialed in. If you have questions, just reach out and ask! Other Potential GRAMMY Categories for videogame music In addition to the 'video game' category (Best Score Soundtrack for Videogames and Other Interactive Media), your game music may be eligible in other categories. These include: Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media Best Song Written for Visual Media Best Arrangement, Instrumental, or A Capella Best Instrumental Composition Other categories may also be possible. When in doubt, check the official guidelines, linked below. We are very excited to see the Recording Academy recognize game soundtracks for the art they represent. To ensure the continuing success of the game score soundtrack category, our industry needs to ensure we as an industry submit high-quality eligible game soundtrack albums each year. So, if you have worked on a game with a released soundtrack, please consider submitting it to the GRAMMYs. And if you have worked on a game recently but have not released a soundtrack, consider doing so and submitting the soundtrack. See you at the 66th GRAMMY Awards! Please note that this information is not a comprehensive listing of all the policies and requirements to make a GRAMMY submission and is for informational purposes only. It is highly recommended that you review those guidelines when they are posted (https://www.recordingacademy.com/awards/rules-guidelines) and also visit the FAQ (https://www.recordingacademy.com/awards/faq) . We also highly recommend that you apply to join the Academy during the next membership window! Read more at the GameSoundCon blog

Getting a Degree in Video Game Music or Sound Design It’s one of the most common questions, and can be the hardest to answer: “Will a music degree help me get a job in game audio?” The last few years have seen several colleges and universities offer programs with degrees and minors in video game composition or sound design. Berklee has a new Bachelor of Music in Games and Interactive Scoring degree. DigiPen Institute of Technology created two Bachelor’s Degree programs in sound design and music for games. Traditional music schools such as USC and UCLA have added minors in video game scoring. Other schools offer courses on video game sound design or composing music for video games as part of their music degree programs. So, there are more options than ever for those wishing to study video game music or sound design. [Article disclaimer: I teach part-time at DigiPen] It's true that game companies don’t necessarily focus on your resume and credentials when hiring. An audio director will be far more influenced by your demo reel than where you went to school. As a composer, it will be all about your music. But as evidenced by the job postings below, many studios are starting to look for or even expect their applicants to have formally studied, or require the skills and knowledge taught in these programs. Below are a few recent job postings for game sound designers from a few major game companies: From a recent Sony PlayStation Job Posting From a recent Riot Games Job Posting From a recent Planet Interactive Job Listing From the Riot Games audio internship From a Microsoft Audio Director Job listing What to look for in a game music or sound degree program Game music or sound design is an inherently multidisciplinary field. Many sound and music jobs at game companies prefer candidates with at least some training or experience in most of the following disciplines: Sound Design: Specifically putting sound to visuals, such as short animations Musical knowledge: you don't necessarily have to be a top-shelf composer, but in order to work with other members of the audio team, a school should ensure students understand terms and foundations of music Programming or other technical skills. As reported, half or more game audio job openings have some sort of technical skills, typically programming or 'scripting' (a kind of simpler programming) skills, or familiarity with game engines such as Unity or Unreal. In addition to individual skills, look for a school that has a multi-disciplinary, team-based project or projects are part of their standard course sequence. These 'game project courses' typically involve creating teams of programmers, artists, game designers and composer/sound designers, either at the same school or in partnership with other universities offering game degrees in other disciplines, and often span semesters. Benefits of a degree in video game music composition or sound design In addition to the direct benefits (knowledge, experience, mentorship, practice, etc.), going to school to study game music or sound design can offer several advantages when it comes to getting a job: You will start building your professional network One of the biggest benefits to formally studying may not be directly related to your coursework. You fellow students will themselves have careers in the game industry, laying the foundation of your professional network. As you work with your classmates, you will make relationships and friendships that may last for decades. This is particularly true if your college program includes work in multi-disciplinary game teams as part of its curriculum. In these programs you will be working closely with classmates across the widely differing disciplines in game development: artists, programmers, producers and designers. In an industry where networking is crucial, the ability to start building your career network while in school can be a big plus. Many game sound job postings include "Bachelor's degree a plus" Many companies are explicitly stating that a degree in music or a related field is “required” or “a plus” when posting job listings. That’s something that was virtually unheard of just a few years ago. Companies may count education as a substitute for experience when hiring A few companies state on their job postings that having a formal degree may act as a substitute for experience in the industry when considering your job application. A degree may help put your resume on 'the short list' A hiring manager may receive a stack of perhaps a hundred or more resumes for one sound design job. How do they decide which dozen to pass on to the audio director for follow-up? For better or worse, a degree in music may help you onto the ‘short list.’ Game Music or Sound Design Internships One relatively recent development is the advent of game audio internships. Virtually unheard of only a few years ago, many of the larger game companies are taking interns in their audio departments. More often than not, these require enrollment in a post-secondary program in music, sound design or audio technology. Companies such Microsoft, Valve, Nintendo, Riot, Blizzard have offered game audio internships to qualified college students seeking a degree Paul Lipson, Sr Executive VP at Formosa Group, and former head of Microsoft Games Central Audio has more than two decades of experience in video game music and sound design and was recently asked to give his thoughts on the value of a college degree (he was speaking specifically about composing): There is a debate going on about academia and music colleges that saturate the industry with hordes(!) of degree bearing composers. As a graduate yourself, how useful do you think is a degree in music? Paul Lipson: I absolutely think a degree(s) are essential, and I personally use my education almost daily and in ways that are totally unexpected or out of the ordinary. I think there are lots of ways to educate ourselves beyond traditional academia, although I believe in it – especially for players and composers. When I hire people, it is a clear advantage and does speak to their ability to finish things or go through a process to completion vs someone who hasn’t. I remember I was having a particularly doubtful day back in school, and a great professor of mine once reminded me that “this is only a handful of years of your life, why not invest in it now and give it all you’ve got while you can. There is plenty of time to worry when you get out lol!”. I still take that to heart, and that idea helped me excel in college. I’m not sure there are “hordes” of young composers with degrees, but what I think young graduates need to do is apply their degrees more creatively and find a path to success that isn’t expected or straight ahead. I also think there is a time for going deep into academia, and then a time for going three times as deep into the private sector. School is important, but nowhere near as important as how you apply yourself outside of school. Say hello to school, and then definitely say a big goodbye haha – get out there make an impact for real! We haven’t discussed the elephant in the room: the rising cost of tuition. As with any major expense, it’s important to weigh costs against benefits, and to try to avoid loading up on too much student debt. That’s a topic beyond the scope of this article (and my expertise!). There are many resources on the financial side of paying for college, one of my favorite is by CBS business analyst and financial author, Jill Schlesinger. I encourage you to study up. The average salary of an entry level job in game audio in 2021 was in the US was $62,235 ($42,500 worldwide), so keep that in mind when doing your financial planning. If you do decide to take the plunge and formally study game music composition or game sound design, be sure to take full advantage of your school's resources. I can tell you first-hand that as often as not, students don’t avail themselves of all the resources their institution has to offer to help them find employment after graduation. Video game composition and sound design are an extremely competitive fields, so take advantage of everything your school has to offer, in and out of the classroom. Where to study to become a video game composer or sound designer Below is a non-exhaustive list of some of the larger programs that offer specific degrees or minors relating to video game music composition or game sound design. If you don’t see your program here, please contact us and we’ll add you to the list! Schools with Game Music or Game Sound Design Degree Programs Berklee College of Music: Berklee offers those interested in game music and sound several options. Students in the Berklee’s Bachelor of Music in Game and Interactive Media Scoring program study modern approaches to video game scoring, compositional techniques and creative development. Like the video game industry itself, students will gain real-world experience through collaboration with both Berklee students and partner universities that offer top video game development programs. These collaborations provide professional opportunities, business practices and technological skills as students explore and cultivate career opportunities, self-discipline, musicianship, and storytelling. For students looking to study remotely, Berklee Online offers an undergraduate degree with a focus on music composition & production for games, film and TV. Bachelor of Music in Game and Interactive Media Scoring (launching Fall 2022) Specialization (minor) in Video Game Scoring through their Film Scoring Department Specialization (minor) in Sound Design for Video Games through their Electronic Production and Design Department Master of Music in Scoring for Film, Television, and Video Games Online degree in Music Composition for Film, TV, and Game Bradley University Bradley offers a Bachelor of Music for Video Games Students develop skills using Digital Audio Workstations, music software and recording technology. Students in the program learn the art of sound design, game effects and music soundtracks. In collaboration with the schools nationally ranked Game Design degree, students become part of a team to create and publish new video games. They also gain skills in music supervision for film and learn about the music industry in general. Champlain College Champlain offers a Bachelor of Science in Game Sound Design Champlain Game Sound Design majors learn to work with audio and game engine software to create original sound mixes, sound effects and music. Students work on a game development team every year and hone their sound design skills as well as their soft skills in communication, teamwork and leadership. They also have the opportunity to study abroad in Montreal, an international city known as one of the meccas for game companies. And yes, we have many sound design professionals who teach in our Montreal classes. Champlain College Game Sound Design majors are challenged to create and to thrive, and learn in an environment that very closely replicates the studio work of the game industry. DigiPen Institute of Technology DigiPen Institute of Technology offers two 4-year Bachelors degrees in game audio The Bachelor of Arts in Music and Sound Design focuses on the creative and technical aspects of video game music and sound design, production, and implementation. Students study composition, theory, performance, audio recording, mixing, and technical sound design for video games. Students work on no less than two multi-semester game projects during their studies. The multi-disciplinary game teams include programmers, artists, and designers from the other game degree programs at DigiPen The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science: Digital Audio is for students who want to become audio programmers for either games or other fields in audio technology. In addition to a rigorous computer science curriculum, students study the science and mathematics of sound, digital signal processing, and audio research. Leeds Beckett (UK) Leeds Beckett offers a Masters of Science in Sound and Music for Interactive Games dedicated solely to video game audio, and allows students to specialize in either interactive music or sound design Thinkspace Education Thinkspace Education provides two degree programs MA Composing for Video Games MA Sound Design for Video Games Schools with Music or Sound Design Degrees that include Video Games in their curricula or minors in game music or sound design Australian National University Has a degree in Composition for Film & Video Games Clarke University Clarke offers a Game Audio Track as part of its Bachelor of Arts in Interactive Media Cnam-Enjmin Cnam-Enjmin (France) offers a Masters Degree n Digital and Interactive Games and Media with a specialization in Sound Design Columbia College, Chicago Columbia College (Chicago) offers a two-year Music Composition for the Screen (MFA) The Music Composition for the Screen MFA program at Columbia College Chicago is an intensive, full-time graduate program. At 54 credits over two years it features substantially more in-classroom instruction over a wider range of subjects than other comparable degree programs, including a strong focus on music for games. Standout features include our Composers-in-Residence - professional composers work with our students to rescore their past projects for seven weeks at a time; plus referred LA internships with professional composers, multiple professional recording sessions, and facilitated collaborations with students in Columbia College Chicago’s Interactive and Film/TV programs. Columbia also offers a Bachelor of Arts in Game Design with a concentration in Sound Design Film Scoring Academy of Europe Film Scoring Academy of Europe offers an online Graduate Diploma in Film & Game Scoring and a 1-year MFA in Film Scoring Johns Hopkins/Peabody Johns Hopkins/Peabody had a degree in Music for New Media KatarinaGurska (Spain) Offers a Masters Degree in Composition for Audiovisual Media New York University (NYU) Steinhardt Steinhardt's Bachelor of Music in Music Theory and Composition: Concentration in Screen Scoring includes video games Northeastern University Northeastern offers a Bachelor of Science in Game Design with a concentration in Music Technology The Game Design and Music combined major with a concentration in Music Technology prepares students to manage all aspects of music and sound design integral to the creative process in Game Design. Students focus on the digital sound technologies, audiovisual integration techniques and collaborative skills, grounded in real-world experience, that are necessary to apply one’s musical imagination effectively in a game design environment. Also emphasized are the aesthetic, expressive, psychological and social perspectives essential to meaningful engagement across a broad range of applications in the game industry. Pulse College Pulse College (Ireland) offers a 1-year Master of Arts in Scoring for Film, TV and Interactive Media San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM): SFCM provides three options for interested students: A Bachelor of Music in Technology and Applied Composition A Professional Studies Diploma in Technology and Applied Composition A Master of Music in Technology and Applied Composition San Francisco State San Francisco State University offers a either a Bachelor of Music or a Bachelor of Arts with a focus on Scoring for Games. The SF State Composition Studio envisions a world of art without boundaries or borders. We recognize that music—whether intended for a game, the screen, or the concert hall—has the same basis in invention and creativity. We offer a Bachelor's in Music with a focus in Scoring for Games (BA or BM). Our award-winning faculty have years of experience working in the industry and classroom. Join us and develop your creative vision, learn industry-standard tools and work with game design teams on real games. Students also receive additional benefits such as private lessons, portfolio reviews, internship opportunities, and studio access. Savannah College of Art and Design SCAD has Bachelors and Masters Degrees in sound design, which include courses in sound design for games B.F.A. in Sound Design M.F.A. in Sound Design University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) UCLA offers a Master of Arts: Composition for Visual media which includes video games University of Southern California (USC) USC has two programs for those interested in game music or sound design: Minor in Video Game Audio through their Interactive Media and Games Division. Masters of Music: Screen Scoring including courses on Advanced Game Scoring and Integration Read more at the GameSoundCon blog

Today, GameSoundCon features a guest writer on our blog: Meet Scott Looney from Game Audio Institute. Scott is a passionate artist, soundsmith, educator, and curriculum developer who has been helping students understand the basic concepts and practices behind the creation of content for interactive media and games for over fifteen years. Having taught interactive online audio courses at the Academy Of Art University, Ex’pression College, Cogswell College, Pyramind Training, UC SantaCruz, City College SF, and SF State University, Scott has now developed a new online course about Audio for XR. Being a game audio professional means keeping up with the latest technologies. You’ve likely heard lots of fancy new acronyms like VR, AR, MR and most recently ‘XR’ describing the fields of Virtual, Augmented, Mixed and Extended or Expanded Reality (nobody agrees on what ‘XR’ means currently). Let’s let Scott from the Game Audio Institute de-mystify how audio for XR works and how it’s both similar and different to audio you’ve already experienced in games. YouTube Video link: Audio For XR: Similar ...And Different? Let’s get some basic facts out about how XR based audio works: 1. Audio for XR is still non-linear audio, at least if you’re talking about interactive experiences or games. 2. 3D games already have a very robust (though somewhat less realistic) form of spatial audio for well over two decades. 3. The usage of these new sophisticated technologies is going to depend on whether the game itself will need them. 4. Spatialized XR audio uses binaural encoding for headphones/earphones because XR devices are personally oriented. 5. In XR based games head rotation in particular is kept track of, and spatial audio relates in one of two ways to this action: Head Tracked audio is audio that changes its apparent orientation relative to the head rotation. So, this behavior is similar to the head turning, and making the sound appear to come from the right side. Head Locked audio is audio that does not change its orientation relative to the head rotation. This means that the audio will not change and in effect, acts like 2D audio, unaffected by distance or direction. Now let’s cover the two new spatial audio technologies emerging in XR. Ambisonic Audio ● It was originally adapted from the M/S (Mid Side) miking technique with other mics covering other dimensions and eventually developed into an electronic encoding procedure. ● It achieves better accuracy especially in height than stereo audio does. The level of detail is governed by the order number, with first order ambisonic files at the lowest level, and progressing upwards to higher orders, offering greater detail, although at greater computation cost. ● Strengths For Game Audio ○ Great for 360 Film or for audio in which the player’s head position does not change. ○ Non-local ambiences can also benefit from Ambisonic audio ○ Music can benefit by offering a larger sound stage. ● Weaknesses For Game Audio ○ Cannot track position relative to the player. Which means that if an object in a game is playing an Ambisonic file from a sound source, moving further away or closer will make no difference to the sound - only rotation of your head will affect it. ○ Ambisonic files of higher orders are not supported by the Unity and Unreal game engines HRTF Based Audio ● Head Related Transfer Function - is a form of binaural audio filtering based on subject tests over the entire frequency range at different angles (azimuth) and at different heights (elevation). ● The result of these tests is compiled into an Impulse Response filter and then real-time convolution is performed on the signal to make it seem as if the sound is arriving right at your eardrum ● Strengths for Game Audio ○ HRTF is definitely an excellent audio technology that can take any 3D audio source and make it seem like the sound is coming from a 180 hemisphere surrounding the player ○ Not subject to the limitations of Ambisonic audio in that head position (distance) is also tracked in addition to rotation (direction). ● Weaknesses For Game Audio ○ You are limited to some extent by the platform’s processing ability to have a large amount of HRTF based audio sources present ○ It may not be the best sounding solution for all kinds of 3D games Although both of these new spatial audio technologies can help sound designers in particular achieve more immersive results in their game’s audio, they should not be thought of as replacements for current game audio, but rather considered as an extension to the current audio palette. Instead professional designers should always be focusing on what serves the game best, and what can also be managed in terms of pipeline production for the developer or publisher. Going Further If you’re interested in taking a deep dive into XR based audio, check out the course in audio for XR at Game Audio Institute. This will be a hybrid course of Zoom meetings and lecture material. You’ll learn everything you need to know about this field and be working with Steam Audio and Unity, implementing sounds and music for a simple VR based GAI Game Lesson that you can then use for portfolio work. Seats are limited to 10 students, in order to give maximum attention to each attendee. And you’ll get 20% off on the course if you use the code ‘gai-vr2022-20’ at checkout. Go here for more information: https://www.gameaudioinstitute.com/course/ol_gai-102_vr-and-ar-audio-concepts-and-practice/

The 2021 survey ran from June 30 through August 30, 2021, and was promoted on various game audio social media and industry/professional websites. 602 people responded; 572 of whom were working professionals (not students, hobbyists or ‘aspiring’). In addition, 467 stated that less than 50% of their income was from non-audio related sources (their ‘day job’). This represents the highest survey turnout we have had to date, and represents a more than 40% increase in professional turnout over the 2019 survey. We continue to break the industry into three main categories of games: · Large Budget Games. Often referred to as “AAA” games, these represent well-funded console or PC titles from major game publishers and developers. They typically have team consisting of hundreds of people and budgets of tens of millions of USD per year. · MidCore: these are smaller scale games with smaller budgets and shorter schedules than AAA games, but represent professionally produced and developed products. Game team sizes vary, but are typically from 10-50 people · Indie. These are small scales, often self-financed via kickstarter or other methods. Of course the line between the different types of games is impossible to draw cleanly. However, it still provides a useful way of comparing similar game types, so that we are not comparing the composing rates of a AAA blockbuster with a 2 person indie team. Video Game Music and Sound Design Jobs, Salaries and Education Topline Summary Employment Status 6 in 10 people working in game audio are employees of companies, though some 'moonlighting' occurs. Salaried Employees Average Salary: $88,140, a 9% increase from 2019. U.S. Salaries significantly higher than the rest of the world. Performance Royalties Only 1 in 6 game composers received any PRO income in 2020, for any game they have ever composed for. Freelancers Freelancers have lower average annual income ($55,811) than salaried employees, but freelancers also had the highest annual incomes. Education Almost 8 in 10 game audio professionals have a bachelors degree or higher, mostly (75%) music/audio related 1 in 20 reported having both a music/audio and a technical degree Gender/Diversity The industry is 84% male (lowest percentage since the survey began in 2014) The "gender gap" in game audio salaries reported in the 2016 survey does not seem to exist in the 2021 data. After accounting for experience, men and women do not have significant salary differences. 77% of respondents were white/Caucasian, with Hispanic/Latino (8.4%) and Asian (6.3%) being the next largest categories. Video Game Music and Sound Design Employment: As with previous surveys, we separate out salaried employees from freelancers, recognizing the fact that some salaried employees also do some freelancing on the side ("moonlighters"). Within salaried employees, we further break down people into employees of game companies and employees of audio companies; the latter would be an audio ‘outsourcing firm’ that provides audio services to game companies, but is more than just a single freelancing individual. Among respondents, 61% reported they worked in game audio as a salaried employee. 35% said they were pure freelancers, while 14% said they worked as a full-time salaried employee, but also did some freelance work on the side. Salaried Employees Salaried employees refer to employees of game companies or of audio companies that provide services to game companies. A salaried employee receives a regular paycheck, and is typically eligible for benefits such as paid sick days, vacation, health insurance, retirement plan, etc. As noted above, approximately 14% of salaried employees also do some 'moonlighting' in game audio The chart below shows annual compensation of salaried employees. For ease of comparison, all compensation has been converted to USD. Salaried Employees: Salary by Geographic Region Salaries in the US are significantly higher than those in the rest of the world. Note that salaries reported do not include fringe benefits such as healthcare, vacation or other benefits, so it can be difficult to compare total compensation between the US and the rest of the world. (Note: Salaries were reported in local currency and converted to USD based on the exchange rate as of Aug 31, 2021). Annual Income vs Experience for Salaried Employees Not surprisingly, the more experience employees have working in game music and sound design, the higher their salaries. Performing Rights Income for video game composers Royalty income from PRO’s is uncommon in games (see a detailed article on PRO’s and game music). Among both freelancers and employees, less than one in five game composers reported receiving PRO income from any game score they had ever written. We specifically asked the question: “Did you receive any payments in 2020 from a Performing Rights Organization (PRO) for any game scores you have written, no matter when they were written?” Additional Income Opportunities In addition to salaries or contracting fees, game audio employees or freelancers report being eligible for additional compensation, as described below. “Per unit royalty” is a specific payment for each copy sold. “Bonus based on Sales” is a bonus paid when certain sales milestones are reached, such as “$10,000 bonus if the game sells 5,000,000 units.” Among employees of companies, cash bonuses, bonus based on sales and company stock were the most common additional compensation types. Among freelancers, additional compensation is rarer, with the exception of game soundtrack sales, or per-unity royalties, particularly from indie developers Video Game Music and Sound Design Freelancers Game Audio Freelancer Income Unsurprisingly, freelancers had the greatest range of income, however their average and median income is significantly less than that of a salaried employee. (Note: Average and Median income calculations removed freelancers with more than 25% of their income from non-audio sources; i.e. a 'day job.' Pure Freelancer: Average Income: $55,811 Median Income: $30,000 However, although both the average and median income is lower for a freelancer than a salaried employee, the highest annual compensations reported were from freelancers. Video Game Composer: Freelancer Game Music Contract Terms The majority of music composition for games is done as "Work for Hire," where the copyright of the music is owned by the game developer or publisher. In smaller games, it is more likely that a composer retains copyright ownership of the music they create for the game, generally to compensate for a lower up-front fee. For AAA games, 91% represents the lowest percentage for Work for Hire this survey has ever recorded: in 2019, this number was 98%. Freelance Music Rates 63% of freelance game music composers said they typically charged on a 'per finished minute' of music rate. $1,000/minute is among the most popular rate across all game sizes, although the highest rates (>$1,500/minute and has high as $4,000+) are limited to AAA and midcore studios. Freelancers: Other Compensation Compared with salaried employees, freelancers generally have fewer types of additional compensation. However, in indie and midcore games, additional compensation from game soundtracks is not uncommon. Additionally, freelancers are more likely to be eligible for a per-unit sales royalty, typically negotiated to compensate for a lower up-front fee. Game Audio Tools and Engine Usage Game Audio middleware remains extremely popular. However in the AAA space, custom developed solutions are also very popular. The most popular audio engine depends on the game type, with Audiokinetic's Wwise engine being very popular with AAA game studios, while FMOD Studio being very popular with Indies and mid-sized games. Compared with the 2019 survey there are a few changes. A larger percentage of indie games using FMOD Studio A larger percentage of games overall using Unreal’s built-in audio engine Note: each audio engine listed in the chart represents at least two responses. Other responses included: Game Maker, Game Maker 2, Gadot, Twine, and Ren py. Game Audio Job Roles The tasks required by game sound designers and composers go beyond just creating music or sound design. The act of 'integration' (incorporating sound into the game itself) as well as taking sounds and incorporating them into audio middleware (custom game audio tools to facilitate interactive audio creation and deployment) are also required. Video Game Composers: roles beside composition Only one in four respondents who said they composed music did only music. Among AAA composers, almost 6 in 10 said they also did either sound design work or work with audio middleware (such as Wwise or FMOD). Among indies and midcore games, almost 7 in 10 composers also did sound design, with half also working with middleware. Video Game Composer and Sound Designer Education In a statistical analysis of the data we commissioned, no correlation was found between game audio income and formal education levels. However, among all respondents, more than 75% reported to having received a bachelors degree or higher, with almost one in four said they had a graduate degree. In addition, as previously reported, education is starting to appear on game audio job postings, although it is not ubiquitous. Game Music and Sound Design Education: Degree Type Unsurprisingly, the most common degree among employees of companies is a music or audio-related degree. In addition, around one in twenty game audio employees reported having degrees in both music and a technical field, typically computer science. Other degree types varied greatly ranging from Philosophy to Journalism. A growing trend is colleges and universities offering video game music and sound design degrees. Game Music and Sound Design Education: Recent Hires For those considering a career in game audio, it can be useful to look at the education levels and degrees of recent hires. We define “recent hire” as a salaried employee with two years or less experience in the industry. Among recent hires, close to 90% have completed a degree program, with the majority being a bachelors. Average Salary of Recent Hires: $40,731 Median Salary of Recent Hires: $38,400 Gender and Diversity Game audio overall is a male-dominated profession, though with a small increase in the percentage of non-male respondents. Audio employees of game companies are somewhat more likely to be male that employees of audio outsourcing companies, with game audio freelancers generally in the middle. Game Music and Sound Design Salaries of Employees by Gender The salaries of game audio employees for women are generally less than that of their male counterparts. However, based on a commissioned analysis, the difference in salary is most likely attributed to the difference in reported years of experience, and not to any particular systemic bias based on gender. This is a different outcome from a previous look into the salary discrepancy between men and women in game audio in 2016, which did find such a bias. Of note: in 2016, the average (Mean) years of experience for women was 6.7; it has dropped to 5.3, while increasing for men from 8.9 to 9.3 years. Whether this reflects larger number of less experienced entering the field or experienced women leaving the field could not be determined. Game Music and Sound Design Gender Makeup For all respondents, 15% of game audio professionals are not male. Considering only non-freelancers, in the US/Canada, almost one in six employees are non-male. In the rest of the world, approximately nine in ten are male. This is the highest percentage of non-male respondents to date, and is a decrease from 89.7% in 2016 and from 86.4% in 2019. Gender Makeup by Region Considering only non-freelancers, in the US/Canada, almost one in five employees are non-male. In the rest of the world, approximately nine in ten are male Race/Ethnicity For the first time, we asked respondents their race or ethnicity. More than three in four of respondents listed White/Caucasian, with Hispanic/Latino (8.4%) and Asian (6.3%) being the next largest categories. Statistical analysis: To determine correlations between gender, education and income, we contracted Dr Mary Siegrist to analyze the raw. Dr. Siegrist was also the analyst for our 2016 analysis of the "game audio gender gap." Her results concluded: The data did not demonstrate a correlation between income and gender This is a different from the 2016 results The data did not demonstrate a correlation between income and education There was a positive correlation between income and years of experience, both with and without controlling for geographic location The above conclusions were separately determined for both freelancers and salaried employees. You can read Dr. Siegrist's formal analysis here (wonkish): A note on statistical validity While this survey attempts to gather and analyze data from the industry in as neutral a fashion as possible, it is not a rigorous MIT-PhD-thesis level report! The 2021 Game Audio Survey, like any survey, has inherent limits and biases. These may include, but are not limited to: The survey was publicized via social media and email networks and known audio groups and via some major music industry web sites. This may bias results towards the ‘more connected’ composers and sound designers in the industry, which likely biases numbers a bit high A small number of very anomalous looking responses were all or in part discarded. This may result in pre-conception bias. A very small number of responses were not self-consistent. These were analyzed manually to determine intent. This may result in pre-conception bias. In order to increase participation, survey questions directly related to compensation were optional. Some number of participants may have misrepresented their data. Thank you to the Game Audio Network Guild for assisting in the survey. Read more at the GameSoundCon blog Contact Brian Schmidt Executive Director, GameSoundCon Facebook: Facebook.com/GameSoundCon Twitter: @GameSound

It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since the original Xbox hit the store shelves on November 15, 2001. As a member of the original Xbox design team, one of the most fun parts for me was creating the boot sound, which ended up having some very surprising challenges. In case you need a refresher, here is the original Xbox Boot sequence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ebJZUOtL8 One of the very last things we did when designing the original Xbox was create the startup sequence. The purpose of the startup sequence is more than to just be entertaining and serve as the audio/visual brand of the device. There is a practical component as well—hide the boot time. One of the design and PR precepts of the Xbox was that it was not a PC; PC’s at the time were associated with long boot times (a minute or more), blue screens of death and the like. We wanted something that would be entertaining from the moment you pressed the “Start” button, and felt like a consumer device that instantly turned on. But the system still has to ‘boot’ itself—the disk drives have to spin up and systems have to initialize. The Xbox hardware and software team went to great efforts to make the boot time fast. In the end they got it down to about 8 seconds. And because of how they designed the bootup software, we could display a cool visual animation during those 8 seconds, ‘hiding’ the boot time by booting while showing the opening visuals. When it came to sound, though, we had a big challenge. Usually, creating sound for visuals is straightforward; get a copy of the video, bring it into your favorite DAW, create a cool sound synced to the visual, render the wave file and you’re done. However Xbox, we couldn’t do that. During the boot sequence, the only memory the system could access was a small “boot ROM” on the motherboard. That stored the Xbox OS kernel as well as opening visual sequences. That ROM was only 256 kilobytes, and after accounting for the OS kernel and visuals there was only about 25kilobytes of room left. If you do the math, 25kilobytes gets you barely half second of 8-bit mono audio. So, creating the boot sound in a DAW wasn’t an option. The question then became how to create an 8-second boot sound using only 25kbytes of memory. As luck would have it, I’d spent a good deal of my career in game audio prior to Microsoft doing just that—creating sound and music for extremely limited memory for arcade games and 16-bit console games for the Genesis (Megadrive) and Super Nintendo; the entire sound budget for Desert Strike (1992), for example, was only 128kb. So back then, we didn’t use wave files; we generated both music and sound effects dynamically, typically from note-lists driving an on-board synthesizer chip. The Xbox had a very powerful sound chip made by nVidia, the MCPX; essentially ProTools on a chip, along with a sophisticated wavetable synthesizer that could play 256 concurrent sounds, with a programmable filter and DAHDSR envelope. I modified a version of one of my old console/arcade sound drivers to work with the MCPX. This driver took as input lists of notes, durations, and parameters and sent the commands to this chip, which generated the actual sound. The sequences themselves were created as simple .txt files The visual sequence was finished first, and I took a video from a hand-held camcorder of the opening sequence from a prototype console, then went through it frame by frame to get the timing of the most important visual elements. Column “E” is the number of “system tick” that each event occurred on. A system tick is a quirky timing system that my sequencer used to control timing and durations. With the sequencer created and the visual timings in hand, I was ready to create the boot sound. From the beginning of Xbox, we wanted to emphasize its power. One of the design phrases that sticks in my mind from that time is “immense power striving to break forth into your living room.” I’m not sure that was ever an official design statement, but in creating the boot sound, it was what I had in mind, and it matched what the visuals did as well. First, I needed to define a sound palette; something that would let me create the boot sound from constituent components and that let me express this power ‘breaking forth into your living room.’ However I also knew that these audio components had to be exceptionally small; I couldn’t exactly store a 5.1 recording of a thunderbolt in my 25kbytes of memory. I wanted sounds that were rich in harmonics, but could be generated on the fly, so I wrote some simple code to create a few very useful waveforms: white noise, sine and sawtooth waves. Since the output of the MCPX was 48kHz, these waveforms were full fidelity, 24-bit. The best thing about those waveforms was that because they were generated by code, they required almost none of the precious ROM memory. But I knew that if I relied purely on simple waveforms like saws and triangles, the sound would have a certain ‘chip-tune’ character to it, which was most definitely not what we were going for. To augment the synthesized waves, I recorded a few 8-bit sounds—they were 8-bit to keep the memory usage minimal-- concentrating on the attacks of the sounds. By downsampling the sounds to a horrifyingly low 6kHz sampling rate, I was able to squeeze the 3 very short sounds into the 25k: a thunder sound, a cannon attack and the attack portion of a glockenspiel. To increase the high end of the low-fidelity samples, I wrote some code to resample them to 48Khz, and deliberately distort them via clipping, which sort of worked. I was also able to create a 4th wave: ‘reverse thunder’ by using code to reverse the thunder sound in memory. You can hear the reverse thunder as part of the lead-in to the big green flash about 6 seconds in. One nice thing about combing synthesized waveforms together with digitized is that I could get the full fidelity of the synthesized waveforms (48kHz sampling rate, 24-bit) combined with the punch of the digitized but far lower fidelity sounds. Here’s one of the tracks from the boot sequence. The opening, low pitched “wwwwaaaaaaa,” at the beginning of the boot sequence is a 256-sample looping sawtooth wave. The wave is sent through a low-pass filter which slowly opens up. This track selects the patch (PatchSaw1), sets the volume and sets the lowpass filter parameters. The “note” command initiates the sound. As the note plays, the ‘finc’ command is used to gradually increase the cutoff frequency of a low-pass filter from about 300Hz and to about 3kH. Another loop then closes the filter slowly again, resulting in the wwwaaaaaauummmm sound which starts the boot sound. Since the direction for the boot sequence was the notion of immense power striving to break free from the confines of the box, increasing the cutoff frequency of the low pass filter literally puts more energy into the sound itself, so that matched well. The visuals also had some explosive, flashing elements. To create those, I used the digitized thunder and canon sounds, layered with filtered white noise, with a long release time. That provided the realism of the thunder, but using the white noise let me create the illusion that the thunder was longer than it actually was. And the white noise was at full 48kHz fidelity, so that masked the otherwise atrocious fidelity of the distorted thunder sample itself. The fast, tinkling hi-hat-like notes are actually very short filtered white noise notes, with a fast attack and decay. By narrowly filtering them and playing them at different pitches they take on an almost metallic character. The bubbly sound in the opening section is a low pitched triangle wave, but with an extreme pitch LFO, which gives it that organic, warbly, bubbly sound. The little jingle at the end is done with a combination of the glockenspiel attack sample, but with sine waves concurrently played at the same pitch as the glockenspiel, with a slow decay one the sines to extend the duration, since the attack sample itself was so short. The final sequence used 9 tracks of sound: digitized and synthesized wavefiles played back at various pitches and times, with dsp processing controlled as the sound played. Put it all together and you have the original Xbox boot sequence. Normally something like a boot sound would go through multiple levels of approval: marketing, executives, etc. But due to the extreme time pressure (this was one of the very last things done on the Xbox before it was finalized for production), we didn’t really have any of that; we were just happy it made sound! If I recall, I did two revisions after the initial concept, which were mainly small tweaks, including the addition of the jingle at the end. The only bit of contention on the boot sound was how loud it should be! Back then, there weren't any loudness standards, or even recommended practices for console games. The PS2 had a very loud boot sound (-0dBFS). But I had deliberately created the sound to be softer than that; around -18dBFS peak in its first version. The reason for the softer boot sound? One additional thing the boot sound is used for is a poor-mans volume calibration. If the boot sound is REALLY LOUD, people will naturally turn down the volume of their TV or stereo. This has the unfortunate byproduct of pushing game developers to make their games loud to match the loudness of the boot sound. If their games have to be loud, there's no headroom for the REALLY exciting moments to get loud. By having a softer boot sound, the thinking was, we would encourage people to turn UP their TV volumes. This would let game developers create games with a greater dynamic range, letting them save their really loud sounds for truly exciting moments in their game. But the Xbox marketing people felt our softer boot sound wasn't as exciting as the louder PS2 boot sound, and they wanted it to be LOUD as well. In the end we sort of compromised, and if I recall the Xbox boot sound peaks out around -12dBFS. I also had the rather humbling experience of being the cause of an early production problem! On the early factory runs, there was a report that every so often—maybe one in a thousand boots—an Xbox wouldn’t boot the first time, and would have to be re-started. Turns out there was a bug in my audio code, that, if the timing was juuust right, would cause the whole system to crash. Fortunately, one of the razor-Sharp programmers on the team was able to find and fix my boot sound bug, and production could continue. [EDIT: enough people have asked me what the bug was that I'm adding it here. Warning! Wonky explanation follows!] Recall that I had ported my old arcade/console driver to the Xbox. The arcade systems and consolers had integer only CPU's; no floating point. That means they only could operate on integers: eg 2,3,4,-44, etc, but not number like "3.14159." But the Xbox processor does have a "FPU" -- floating point unit. So in one tiny piece of code that dealt with timing, because it was easier, i used a tiny bit of floating point code. That code was inside the interrupt routine of the Xbox's CPU, and it turns out, on that CPU you are NOT supposed to do any floating point processing in an interrupt routine or, if the timing is juuuust right, it will cause all sorts of problems. The programmer, Tracy Sharpe, referenced above tracked down the issue and re-wrote that little bit of code to not use floating point, which eliminated the problem. At the time, I got a lot of questions why we didn’t create the boot sound to be 5.1. Although commonplace today, the Xbox was the first console to enable real-time interactive digital surround sound in games and Dolby was very prominently featured in the Xbox marketing material. So why is the boot sound only stereo? Digital audio receivers of that era supported digital surround via their digital optical input. As it happens, a receiver starts out assuming any digital signal it gets is a regular stereo signal. If it detects a Dolby Digital signal, it switches itself into Dolby Digital mode. The problem was that that detection takes 2-4 seconds, and the receiver mutes itself during the changeover. By that time, the boot sound would be half over. If we had turned on 5.1 for the boot sound, the first few seconds of it would be totally silent. So, we had to go, unfortunately, with just a stereo boot sound. Sometimes, despite having all sorts of tech at our disposal, we have to rely on 'old school' techniques to solve creative game audio challenges. You might say, then, in the most literal sense of the word, the Xbox boot sound is a 'chip tune!' Brian Schmidt is a 34 year veteran of the game audio industry. He worked for 10 years at Microsoft as the program manager for the Xbox and Xbox 360 audio systems and created the Xbox startup sound. Currently he’s an independent composer, sound designer, educator and is founder and Executive Director of GameSoundCon. Read more at the GameSoundCon blog

An Interview with CBS Business Analyst and Certified Financial Planner®, Jill Schlesinger Shortly after starting my freelance game audio career almost 35 years ago, I walked into my local Citibank branch and asked about opening a retirement account. At the time, I didn’t know anything about investing or saving for retirement except that I probably should. I must have had a big “INVESTING NOOB” sign on my back. Because what I walked out with, I later learned, was a terrible investment for me, although it did earn the Citibank ‘advisor’ with whom I met a nice fat commission. Discovering that was a wakeup for me: that I needed to learn about the financial side of being a freelancer, in addition to the music, sound and tech side of things. Jill Schlesinger is an Emmy-award winning Business Analyst for CBS News. She also hosts a nationally syndicated radio show, the Gracie Award Winning, Jill on Money, and pens a syndicated newspaper column of the same name. Jill uses her background as former financial planner to provide insight into personal finance and is both a journalist and a Certified Financial Planner®. Her book, “The Dumb Things Smart People Do With Their Money: Thirteen Ways to Right Your Financial Wrongs,” was published in February 2019. I have been listening to Jill Schlesinger’s broadcasts and reading her columns for over a decade. Feeling particularly brave one day, I reached out to see if she would be willing to be interviewed for an article I wanted to do on personal finance for composers. Jill was kind enough to sit down with me and discuss what advice would she give to new or established freelance composers about how they should approach their current and future financial lives. [Adapted from a discussion with Jill Schlesinger, July 2021] What are some of the basics, the 101's that every freelance composer should know in terms of how they approach their finances? [Jill Schlesinger (JS)] Number one is having an emergency fund As a freelancer, you need to keep a bit bigger cash buffer than if you were a regular employee. Keep 9-12 months of living expenses in a boring, safe bank or money market account. If Covid has taught us anything, it’s that we can all be at risk at any moment, and as a freelancer, we are already taking some risks that employees don’t have. There are great parts of being self-employed; I think it's fantastic; I also am a self-employed person. I'm under contract with CBS, but I'm not an employee of CBS. And as a result, I always have a little slush fund in my account just 'cause you never know. So I think that an emergency fund is really important. Number two is that you must keep awesome records As a freelancer, you need this not only for tax reasons, but so that you know how you are doing overall as a business. Use Quickbooks or a spreadsheet, or whatever works for you, but you must have meticulous records. Number three is to put together a support team. As a creative worker, you want to be able to focus on what you do best. Get a lawyer who can help you protect your IP, and if you don’t like doing taxes, an accountant. If you have reasonable amount of money, maybe a financial advisor. Assemble a team that lets you do what you do so well. Suppose there's a young aspiring composer. She just finished school. Maybe she has a little student loan debt. Maybe a car loan? A little bit of credit card debt? What should she do to set herself on the right track, knowing that the business is insanely competitive? [JS] We talked about emergency fund: 9 to 12 months of your living expenses. Set that aside in a boring, safe account. Car breaks down, you lose a long-term client. That what the emergency fund is for. Pay down consumer debt: credit card, car loans, student loans Credit card debt is pernicious. It has very high rates, so it gets the highest priority. When you think about paying down debt you want to be methodical and list out every single loan you have in descending order, the highest interest rate to the lowest interest rate, and then establish automatic transfers from your bank account to those debts and begin the process of whittling them down. But don’t rush pay down mortgage debt if you own a home or condo. Understand your cash flow To manage things like debt or business income, you need to understand what’s coming in and what’s going out. As a business owner you need to have a good sense of “what do I need to do to pay my bills every month and where is my money coming from?” How does a freelancer handle taxes? [JS] Regular (non-freelancer) employees have taxes withheld from their paychecks. But as a freelancer, you won't have taxes withheld from the checks you get from your clients. So instead, the government requires to pay estimated taxes, typically 4 times a year. That means that if you get a check for, say $10,000 for work you've done, you need to set aside a portion of that to pay your estimated taxes. How much you need to set aside will depend on your own tax situation-- do you have other income from a regular job? are you filing jointly with a spouse, and so on. But you do need to set that money aside, since if you have any kind of reasonable income, you'll need it to cover the taxes you owe. This is where working with your accountant (part of your team!) is so important. You should count on setting aside at least 20% of each check you get, and you may need to set aside far more to be able to pay--perhaps as much as 50% if you make a lot of money or live in a high tax state. When should a freelancer start thinking about saving for retirement? [JS] It is never too early. The government gives us an incentive to save for retirement either by lowering our taxes or prepaying taxes at lower rates. Get into the habit of saving for retirement early, even if it’s just a teeny tiny bit. For most people starting out, a Roth IRA is usually the way to go. If you have earned income, you can put up to $6,000 per year into a Roth ($7,000 if you are over age 50), where it will grow tax-free. As you start to make more as a composer, there are number of options as a freelancer that let you sock away a lot of money for retirement. A SEP-IRA lets you put up to $57,000/year away in tax deferred income. A Solo 401(k) or Roth Solo 401(k) allows you to put away up to $19,500 ($26,000 if you are over age 50). If you are earning a lot, there are also retirement accounts that let you put in up to $230,000/year, pre tax. Your accountant (remember your team?) can help you determine what’s best for you. The important thing is to start small, start early, and continue to fund your retirement. Make a habit of taking some of your freelance income and put it into these tax advantaged accounts and let them grow for years or decades. So you mentioned a Roth versus a non-Roth. What's the difference there? [JS] There are two broad kinds of retirement accounts: Roth and non-Roth (‘traditional’). In a traditional retirement account, you get a tax deduction for the money you put into it. Let’s say you decide to put 15% of your income into a traditional retirement account. You will only pay taxes on $0.85 for every dollar you make. When you take the money out, presumably when you are retired and it has grown for decades, you pay taxes on the money you take out at whatever tax bracket you are in at that time. In a Roth account, it’s the opposite. If you decide to put 15% of your income into a ROTH account, it doesn’t affect your taxes that year; you pay tax on every dollar you make. However, when you take the money out—after those decades of growth—you pay no taxes on the money you take out. Roth accounts tend to be great for those just starting out because you’re probably not making a ton of money and are in a low tax bracket. And even if you're in a high-ish tax bracket, maybe you're in the 22 or the 24 percent bracket, a Roth still may still make sense because it gives you some semblance of an idea of what your tax liability will be in the future. I don't know if tax rates could stay the same, but they're pretty low right now, so maybe I'd rather pay my tax today knowing what the bill will be versus in the future, which is unknowable right now What about something like an Indexed Universal Life policy instead of an IRA? [JS] No no no no no no no no no. Use a retirement account. Don't use insurance products. You don't need to mix insurance and investments. That's my number one message. The second thing is to be careful when you start getting into complicated financial products. I don't know anything about music, so I'm going to say something stupid here, but you know how sometimes you listen to music and it's really complicated and it's hard to like compute in your brain? It's like that with financial products. If it's really that complicated, I don't want to do it—and I used to be an options trader. Products like indexed universal life are very complex. I think insurance products are wonderful for insurance and not so great for investing. Suppose someone has a regular ‘day job’ and they would like to transition to be a full-time freelance composer. Should they be scaling back on the money they're putting into their 401(k) right now to try and beef up some non retirement money. [JS] I don't think that's a bad idea. Especially if you know you're making a transition, beefing up that cash position makes sense. I think one other thing to mention is if you have this 9-5 job, it's really good if you can say “hey, what benefits do I have at work that I'm going to need to replicate as a freelancer?” In many respects that gives you a great guide. “I have life insurance through work. Oh wait, can I take that life insurance with me? Should I replace it with other life insurance? I have disability insurance. Can I take that with me? I have my health insurance. Well, how am I going to get health insurance?” Ok, Suppose I open up a Sep IRA or a solo 401K. What should I put in it? What should I invest in? [JS] Simplicity is your friend. The smartest and easiest thing to put inside of a retirement or an investment account are index mutual funds. An index fund for stocks and another for bonds. If you are truly comfortable with risk and you want to go 90% in an S&P 500 index fund fine, but whatever it is the big key to investment success is: Creating an allocation of stocks and bonds Putting the money away regularly and methodically Sticking to your allocation You can rebalance the account every three months, six months once a year; it doesn't really matter that much. But have a plan and stick to it. [Note: “rebalancing” is the act of periodically buying and selling portions of your investments to keep the overall percentages the same.] How should performance royalties figure into a composer’s financial life? [JS] In the financial world, royalties would be thought of as an annuity; some passive income you receive on a regular basis. Because royalties can be flexible, unless you have a very good idea about how much the royalties are, with a consistent track record, it’s probably safest to leave it out of your retirement calculations. As you get closer to retirement, and the payments are better understood, you might want to factor those in. It might vary or decrease for reasons outside your control, so it’s best to keep that in mind when figuring how they fit into your overall financial life. It also depends on your how your royalty income is structured. If you are getting small royalties from a whole bunch of different placements, that may be more reliable than if you get the bulk of your royalties from just one or two shows, which might be suddenly cancelled or just become less popular. Plus, there is the long-term risk of royalties diminishing over time because of more systemic industry changes like streaming or buyouts. So even if you’ve got a hit show and royalties are pouring in today, I wouldn’t necessarily factor them in for, say, as part of my retirement plan for 25 years from now. What is one of the most boring, uninteresting, but very important things that a composer should make sure they don’t overlook? [JS] Insurance. Disability insurance in particular, is pretty much the most boring, complicated but important thing. As a self-employed composer, there are a lot of benefits do you not get as a normal employee, and a lot of them have to do with insurance. Life insurance, health insurance. But for a composer one of the most important might be disability insurance. You are more likely to become disabled before you are age 65 than you are to die, which is why disability insurance is so much more expensive than life insurance. You know, I remember a guy who had to quit the commodities trading business. He lost his voice. He just couldn't yell anymore. The commodities market is an open outcry system where you literally had to yell across the room to do your job. He went from making hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to zero in an instant. You should ask yourself “What would happen if I could no longer do this thing that I love?” If the answer is “I’d be s**t out of luck” then you need to look at disability insurance. I can't let you go before we get to a couple of specific questions, stonks and crypto. That seems to be the thing people are talking about. Where does that figure into somebody financial life these days? [JS] Whether it’s individual stocks, crypto or any other highly volatile asset class, keep the amount of money you invest in those to no more than 5-10% of your total invested assets. The amount of money you have in these highly volatile, though potentially lucrative areas should be limited so that if you lost it all, it wouldn’t devastate you; it’s ok if it hurts, but don’t let it wipe you out. If you have more than that, take some money off the table Any other final words of advice? [JS] Regardless of what you do, have some plan in place. Sticking to that plan and keeping the costs low, that's going to be your friend over time. Thank you for your advice and your time! You can find Jill Schlesinger’s podcast, Jill on Money, on your favorite podcast app, and at www.jillonmoney.com. Her book, “The Dumb Things Smart People Do with Their Money” is available on Amazon or a bookseller near you Read more at the GameSoundCon blog

Getting a Game Sound Design Job: An Analysis of 100 Game Sound Job Postings What are video game companies looking for when they need to hire sound designers or composers? Clearly skills like having a great ear, being fluent in modern recording techniques and knowing your way around a DAW are essential. But what specific skills or software are they looking for, above and beyond traditional sound design or composition expertise? What skills will put your resume on the ‘short list’ of people when deciding who to interview and hire? To answer that question, we analyzed game audio job postings over a 4 month period from April through July 2020, looking at close to 100 job descriptions. We made note of what they listed as required or preferred skills and tabulated the results. The jobs listed were salaried, employee-positions at companies; they do not reflect freelance work, such as a freelance composer or contract sound designer. Freelance work makes up about half of all game audio work. Also, for the purposes of this analysis, we did not track game audio jobs that were mainly computer programming jobs: i.e. “Audio Programmer” or other positions that did not include creating audio content. Just about every job posting listed standard sound design skills such as familiarity with a DAW, audio creation tools, recording techniques and the like. So, we left out skills like recording, mixing, etc. However, we did count references to “ProTools” and “Reaper,” which were by far the most frequently called out DAWs. Game Sound Design Job Titles There is no standard lexicon for game audio jobs. The most common job listing was for Sound Designer/Game Audio Designer, including everything from “Junior Sound Designer” to “Expert Sound Designer.” The table below shows the breakdown of job title as a percentage of all the job postings analyzed. Game Audio Skills Below are the most frequently used terms in the job listings we looked at. Each listing was scanned for terms identical or similar to those below. The scan included the entirety of the job posting: the ‘required’ and ‘preferred’ sections of the job skills area as well as introduction and job function description. As noted above, we are leaving out standard sound design skills, such as “DAW” “professional audio tools” and the like, focusing on those most specific to game audio design. Experience 69% Not unexpectedly, the most frequently listed requirement was experience. Companies are looking for someone who can hit the ground running and is familiar with what it is like to work on a game project. Of note, however, is that although almost 7 in 10 job descriptions said that “experience” was a qualification, only about half of those specifically mentioned “AAA” experience, 36% in total. (AAA is the term the game industry uses for large-budget, multi-year games such as Red Dead Redemption, GTA and the like.) Several job listings also implied that education might be a substitute for experience, though not for “AAA” experience (see education, below) Wwise: 63% More than 6 in 10 game audio job descriptions specifically called out Wwise as a required or preferred skill for their applicants. Wwise is specialized game audio industry software that takes sound and music files that you make in your DAW and puts it into an interactive format that can be integrated into the game itself. Wwise is completely free for the sound designer/composer and can be downloaded from www.audiokinetic.com. Scripting 48% The process of putting sound into a video game is more complex than dragging a sound onto the right point in a video timeline. Scripting—a sort of simple, ‘programming-lite’ is used to connect a game sound to a game action or event. Scripting was a skill listed in almost half the job postings that we looked at. Although no company expects their sound designers to be computer science majors, having a working proficiency in a scripting language such as Blueprints, C#, Python or Lua can be a big plus when applying for game sound design jobs. In addition to scripting being used to hook sounds up to the game itself, it is common for a game sound designer to be expected to write simple scripts or bat files to facilitate their workflow. An example might be creating a Reaper script to batch export sound effects or reading dialogue file names from a spreadsheet to match the naming convention required by the game programmer. Unreal: 41% As we noted above, the act of putting sounds into a video game can be complicated and can vary based on what game engine the company is using to make their game. For larger, professionally produced games, the Unreal Engine is among the most popular. Someone familiar with Unreal understands how sound can be added to a game using Unreal’s Blueprints or game animations and generally knows how to get around in the Unreal Editor, and may even be fluent in a language like C++. Formal Education 37%: One surprising finding was the number of jobs that specifically mentioned that formal education, typically a Degree involving audio or music. 37% of the job listings stated that they preferred or required an applicant with a formal degree, preferably a degree in audio or music. Several of the job openings listed education as a possible alternative to experience, listed above. ProTools: 38% For specific audio software, Pro Tools was the most frequently mentioned DAW, with almost 40% saying it was a preferred or required skill. Note, however, that many of job postings listed more than one DAW, with phrases like “.. such as Pro Tools or Reaper…” Reaper: 31% Reaper is an increasingly popular DAW for game audio. One of its strengths for game audio production is its extensibility. Through its internal scripting language, it is relatively straightforward to create complex editing or export commands necessary for game audio. The game audio tools Wwise and FMOD also have taken advantage of Reaper’s scripting language to provide a smoother workflow. FMOD: 24% Like Wwise, FMOD—specifically FMOD Studio—is a specialized software tool that lets sound designers/composers create interactive sound effects or music in a format that can be more easily incorporated into the game. FMOD Studio can be freely downloaded at www.fmod.com. Music Composition 23% Almost a quarter of the game audio job listings we looked at said that having music composition skills was required or preferred. Note, however, that only 6% of job titles had the word “composer” in them, indicating that music composition was the primary job function. About half of the remining jobs that listed “composition” as a desired skilled said the job involved both sound design and music composition. In smaller studios, an employee may be asked to be able to do both music composition and sound design for a game, either by themselves or as part of a larger audio team. Of those jobs that had “Composer” in the job title itself, 60% included “Wwise” in their list of required or preferred skills, with one in 5 also saying “Unreal” or “Scripting” was desired. Unity: 23% Similar to Unreal, Unity is a stand-alone game engine and editing environment somewhat more popular with smaller studios or indie games. A sound designer with Unity skills will know how to incorporate Wwise or FMOD into a game written with Unity as well as some simple C# (C-Sharp) programming and tagging of animations. Someone with Unity experience also is generally familiar with the Unity game editing environment, and how sound relates to other game components. Other Skills Listed Among the other skills listed as required or preferred, but not reaching more than 10% were: C++ (7%), Play an Instrument (6%), Agile (3%),Source Control (Perforce, SVN) (2%), Lumberyard (Amazon’s game engine) (2%) and 3D Art Tools such as Max/Maya (1%), One final note: The skills listed above are generally technical and specific to game audio, and they are an important part of a game audio designer or composer’s toolbox. But it’s important to keep in mind that the job listings examined were all for content creation roles, where being able to create high quality sound and/or music is the primary skill required, and therefore assumed for all the job postings. In the end, it’s what comes out of the speakers that counts. Great C# skills won’t make up for a poor demo reel. It is also important to keep in mind that the analysis may be somewhat biased towards larger companies' listings; larger companies are likely to have larger audio staffs, resulting in more job postings. For this reason, some items such as Unity or FMOD Studio that are more common in smaller studios may be under-represented in this analysis Getting a job in game sound design or game music composition can be extremely competitive. As reflected in the job postings, game companies are looking for qualified sound designers and composers with the specific technical skill sets listed above. If you want your resume to make it onto the ‘short list,’ when applying for a game audio design job, make sure your skills match what game companies are looking for today. Read more at the GameSoundCon Blog Brian Schmidt is a 33 year veteran of the game sound and music business and is the Founder and Executive Director of GameSoundCon

Practically overnight, many of us have found ourselves unexpectedly thrust into the world of taking or giving our university classes online instead of in the classroom. Like working from home, effectively attending an online class can be challenging under the best of circumstances; social distancing and a 'stay at home'/shelter in place advisory makes it even moreso. The challenges of 'attending' college from home involve more than just learning how to deal with Microsoft Teams, Google Meetings/GSuite, or Zoom conferencing software. It’s also learning how to stay productive and sane, especially during this period of social distancing in the face of the novel coronavirus/COVID-19. TL:DR Establish 2 different mindsets while at home: “I’m engaged with school” and “I’m at home, not 'at school'.” Keeping them separated will help you be more productive and—just as important— help reduce your stress and anxiety. Here are some essential tips if you have found yourself unexpectedly becoming an online college student: 1) Get up and get dressed as if you were going to head into campus. Yes, this sounds silly. After all, isn’t “Work in your pajamas” one of the big benefits of “take classes from home?" Nope. Plenty of studies have shown that you’ll be more productive and engaged if you dress and act the part. Being in your PJ’s or logging into your 9am class from bed isn't the best way todo this. A corollary of this is to keep a normal (for a student) sleep schedule. 2) Establish a routine and schedule. Plan for ‘you’re engaged with school’ time and your ‘just hanging around at home’ time. And, yes, attend your online classes at the designated times; don't count on 'just watching the video later.' 3) Participate. Attending class online doesn't just mean signing in and then tuning out or being a passive watcher. Engage actively in the discussions; often there will be an parallel text chat discussion in addition to literal discussions and lecture occuring. Don’t be shy about asking clarifying questions using chat/email. But keep it concise. This is a good opportunity to learn the art of writing concise, to the point messages. 4) Designate a physically separate area in your apartment/dorm/home that is your “I’m at school” place such as the kitchen table or a separate area of your room. If you’re using a laptop for remote classes, go to that area during online-classtime. The goal is to make “I’m in class” be literally different than “I’m not in class" and having the environment be conducive to learning. 5) When attending an online class or team meeting, close down every window & browser tab on your computer except those you are using for the meeting. Literally close them down and put your phone out of eye’s reach. A classroom provides a buffer from distractions, but it’s incredibly easy to get distracted during an online class or online team meeting at home. A secret hint from a professor: I can often tell when you're not paying attention, even in an online class. Saying “hmm..I'm not sure I fully understand your quesiton...” when you’re asked something is a sure-fire giveaway that you were checking Instagram, reddit or chatting on Discord with someone instead of paying attention. 6) Turn your camera on. You’ll be more engaging and be more engaged with, and also convey your thoughts more clearly to others; a lot of communication is visual. Note that some video conferenceing programs allow you to blur your background, if you’re worried about people seeing your messy room or unwashed dishes in the sink. 7) During your school-time, keep Microsoft Teams, Slack or whatever communcation program your school is using open and check your email frequently. However, resist the temptation to check on non-school related channels. 8) Take breaks! During your break time, feel free to check social media, or get in a quick game of Osu. However, if you need to, set a timer for when your break is done so you don’t find yourself stretching a 15 minute break into 2 hours. (See #2). 9) Say “I’m done with school for the day”. When classes are over, and you’ve spent time on your projects/homework, etc, end your schoolday and don’t feel guilty about it. Assuming you’ve put in your full day ‘at school’, you’ll feel less guilty about hanging it up, since you were ‘at school’ all day. One last thing around video conferencing… be aware of the noise around you! I was in a professional conference call once where one of the participants was eating potato chips, the sound of which their microphone did an amazingly great job of picking up. Not the most pleasing sound in the world for your fellow classmates. If you want to snack, or if your dog suddenly starts barking, mute your mic and/or camera. But turn it back on when things are back to normal. Read more at the GameSoundCon Blog Brian Schmidt has worked as a game composer and sound designer for more than 30 years; for more than 20 of those years he worked at home. In addition to composing and consulting work, he is a Senior Lecturer at DigiPen Institute of Technology, teaching music and computer science. He, like thousands of other professors, found himself havinging to quickly jump from the classroom to online learning and teaching in the age of social distancing.

Richard Ludlow is the Audio Director and co-founder of Hexany Audio one of the world's leading companies specializing in game audio. He recently shared his company's process and his own thoughts on how he hires sound designers and other employees at Hexany. (adapted from Richard's twitter feed, with permission) Step One: Your Game Audio Demo Reel: Our very first steps is a blind review of demo reels. We don’t look at names, years of experience, resume, or anything else. We’ll pass if your reel isn’t excellent. And if your link doesn’t work, we move on. Pro Tip: Test your link a private window before sending. We’re looking to hire video game sound designers. If your reel is 100% film and doesn’t contain anything at all from a game and your resume doesn’t have anything related to games, you’re probably not the best fit for this position. We are 100% fine with sound re-designs that aren’t from titles you actually worked on. So long as they showcase your work, we don’t care if they are from a game you didn’t work on. Audio-only reels are no good. We need to see sound work done to picture to tell what your creative intent was. Music, abstract soundscapes, and raw SFX without video aren’t helpful, and if you don’t have any examples of sound to picture, we’ll pass on your application. While not a factor in elimination, we don’t love reels that are entirely ‘stylized’ work. If you’re submitting all 8-bit work, spells or abstract concepts, it can be more difficult for us to gauge your abilities… ...for example, we prefer a cinematic demo that is somewhat grounded in the real world, because we know what that sounds like and we can tell if you were able to successfully craft a scene that has less room for creative interpretation and a more expected end result. Did you record everything in your reel yourself? Bonus points for creativity! But if the end result isn’t incredible, we do not favor your process over the end result. We need to know you can make something amazing & at this stage we care much less about how you did it. Step 2: Your Game Audio Job Application At this point, if we like your reel, we’ll look at the rest of your application. If you didn’t follow the directions when applying (e.g. naming your files the correct way, etc.) we flag you as not having an attention to detail. Attention to detail is critical in game work. We don’t immediately eliminate you for this, but looking back, we’ve never actually hired someone who didn’t follow all of our instructions explicitly. From here we look at your cover letter & resume. Not many things will eliminate you from consideration at this point, but one can be experience… …We hear from industry-seasoned candidates that they want to be considered for entry-level positions. But if we’re hiring an assistant position, it means we want someone who is a blank slate we can train. Likewise if we are hiring for a position with a 'minimum years of experience', we want candidates to meet that minimum. Too much or too little experience are absolutely factors. Step 3: Game Audio Interview & Sound Test Next up is an interview. It’s extremely rare we pass on someone due to culture fit, personality, or anything else in this first interview. We’re looking to get confirmation your resume was truthful and that you love games. If so, you’ll probably get a sound test. Assuming you got an interview, the sound test is the #1 determining factor for us in hiring. This is your chance to shine, and is the primary driving force in our hiring decisions for sound design positions. This deserves all of your love and attention. The next step is the follow-up interview. This is where we want you to dive into your process for the sound test. Talk shop, give us details, and ask us questions. This interview will include myself, our lead sound designer, producer, and potentially others. In-Person Interview: Assuming that went well, we’ll want you to come over at this point and meet the team, see the studio, and socialize with us. You’ll be asked additional questions about experience, etc. to see if we think you’ll be a good fit for the job and the team. Final Thoughts 1: 99% of questions we receive through email or DMs can be answered by reading the job description and application. Sending us a question that can be answered by reading the position details doesn’t help get you noticed, it just wastes everyone’s time. Final Thoughts 2: When hiring for our sound design positions we are very focused on the quality of your work. Devote time to making your reel incredible and you’ll rise to the top for sure, even if things aren’t a perfect fit for this particular position. @rkludlow We would like to thank Richard Ludlow again for letting us capture his thoughts on the hiring process. Richard will point out that this process is specific to Hexany and may not reflect how other companies do their hiring, but regardless of where you are applying, you can probably take Richard's advice to heart when applying for your next sound design gig. Although every company is different, looking for different things or having different emphases, over the years I've seen similar advice given by multiple audio directors for game companies large and small. Have a great demo reel. Pay attention to detail. Establish credibility in the interview. Keep the resume scrupulously honest. Focus on the end result So before you send in your application for that sound design job, whether you're looking for full-time employment at a company or as a freelancer, consider how your demo and application will look from Richard's perspective and you'll improve your chances of landing that sound design gig.

The Game Audio Industry Survey tracks compensation, working conditions, contact terms and production information for the video game music and sound industry. Originally designed to provide a more detailed look into the industry than Gamasutra’s annual salary survey, the Game Audio Industry Survey has grown into the most comprehensive analysis of game audio business and production issues. The goals of the survey are to collect information which: Reflects both the freelancer and employee aspects of our industry Covers the range of games produced, from AAA to Indy. Is relevant to the industry The 2019 survey ran from May 30 to July 30, 2019 and was promoted via social media and other game or music industry web sites. We received 391 usable responses. In addition to compensation numbers, we wanted to see what some of the business terms and creative issues were current in game music and sound design. A Difficult to Define Industry: Because the game industry (and therefor game audio) is such a wide and diverse business, we broke things down into three main categories: Large Budget Games. These are your typical console or well-funded PC title. These games are available at retail, and also may be downloadable. Professionally produced smaller games. These are smaller scale; smaller budget games than the “AAA” large budget games, but nonetheless are professionally developed, produced and marketed. These games are sometims called Mid-core or Casual-core games. Indie games. These are smaller scale games, which are often self-financed or financed through non-traditional means such as kickstarter. Of course it is impossible to draw a sharp line between the three categories outlined above. Nevertheless, we believe it serves as a useful distinction so that we’re not comparing the compensation from a blockbuster like Call of Duty with that of a part-time, 2-person dev company making an iPhone game in their basement. Format of Survey Reporting 1/ Compensation Salaried Employees Salary by Geographic Region Freelancers By Gender Contract Terms 2/ Work and Environment Status Roles Middleware 3/ Education Degrees/education level Compensation Entry level income/degrees 1/ Compensation Game Audio is a highly diverse field, and as a result has a lot of variation in compensation. Although it is convenient to talk about “average” game audio compensation (and we will report that as the “mean”)[1], the median and compensation distribution may be more meaningful, which we present in graphic histogram form. Note that all compensation numbers are guaranteed compensation, do not include any kind of bonuses, royalties, stock awards, etc, which are reported on separately. To calculate compensation, we broke respondents into three categories: Salaried Employees companies Freelancers Salaried employees who do freelance work on the side We further broke freelancer Work for Hire projects into: Large-budget Game Work for Hire Casual/Indy Work for Hire Respondents who listed compensation numbers of 0 were filtered out of all compensation charts, as were entries we determined to be obviously anomalous. For most of the questions, those who reported they were “hobbyists or aspirational” were also filtered out. For salaried employees, we report the annual salary, not including bonuses or other compensation (health plan, retirement, stock purchase/options, etc.) For freelance/contractors, in addition to total annual income from games, we asked respondents to give us what their compensation is on a per-project basis, not including any potential or realized bonuses/royalties, etc. All compensation information is in U.S. Dollars. Note that not all numbers add to 100% due to rounding and because some apparently anomalous respondent data was filtered out. Annual Income: Salaried Employees: Mean Yearly Salary: $80,837 Median Yearly Salary: $68,125 Mean Years in Industry: 8.9 [1] “Mean” is the average: the sum of all numbers divided by the number of entries. “Median” is the ‘middle number’. There are as many salaries higher than the median as there are lower. Median is reported because the mean can be skewed by a small number of very high or very low values. Salaries again in 2019 have two main peaks, one at around 60,000, and one around 125,000. Higher salaries tended to be correlated with descriptions such as “Management” or “Audio Director” and are more likely to be from US based employees. Annual Income vs Experience for Salaried Employees As expected, those working in the industry longer generally receive a higher total income, with the highest salaries (> $150,000) going to those with at least 10 years experience in the industry. Salaried Employees: Salary by Geographic Region Reporting only on salaried employees (no freelance income), there is a significant difference between both median and mean (average) salaries between the United States and the rest of the world. NOTE: salaries are not normalized for region-based cost of living. For example, 69% of US respondents live in California or Washington State and include the highest cost of living areas in the country (LA/Orange County & Seattle), which may skew numbers high for US. Salaried Employees with Freelance Income on the side Almost 25% of Salaried employees reported earning additional freelance income on the side. Of those who did, their reported freelance income was Mean “On the side” income: $13,666 Median “On the side” income: $7,360 Note that “On the side” income is NOT included in the salary graphs above Gender Makeup/Salaries Salaried Employees by Gender The average and median salaries reported overall different by gender significantly. However, the average and median number of years in the industry also differed; as seen above, there is a clear correlation between compensation and number of years in the industry. It should also be noted that women represented approximately 12.6% of those reporting; the smaller sample size may cause less accurate results. As in previous years, game audio is heavily male dominated. Men make up 17 in 20 of the industry. Breaking that down further, however, shows that Audio companies are much more likely to have non-male employees than game companies, with "only" 3 in 4 audio company salaried employees reporting as male. (note: no salaried employees taking the survey identified as other/non-binary) Considering only salaried employees, greaking down gender makeup by region shows that that in the US, the gender imbalance is significantly worse than in UK or the EU (not counting UK). Better than 9 in 10 US employees overall reported they were male. 1a/ Freelancers Freelancers reported a lower average and median annual income than salaried employees. However, the very highest salaries were obtained by freelancers. Average annual income from a game audio freelancer was $63,548. Mean Yearly Income: $63,548 Median Yearly Salary: $28,750 Mean Years in Industry: 9.5 Median Years in Industry: 5 Below, we break down mean and median income by game size/type (AAA, Mid-core, Indie) AAA: Mean: $130,490 Median: $70,000 MidCore: Mean: $46,462 Median: $26,880 Indie: Mean: $22,381 Median: $8,500 Freelancer: Experience's impact on income As with salaried employees, freelancers working in the industry longer generally receive a higher total income. However the range of income varies much more than for salaried employees. The highest annual incomes were reported by freelancers. In order to show more detail at the lower income ranges, the chart below has removed incomes above $200,000. It should be noted that the chart below is NOT illustrative of the entirety of the survey respondents. However, seeing the data while excluding a small number of extremely high earning freelancers is useful Freelance Compensation/Per Project Fees Per project fees varied tremendously, from a low of zero, to a high of over 300,000. Large budget games of course dominate at the higher end, with Indie games clustered toward the low end. However, there are significant number of Indie games (self-funded, kickstarter, etc.) with per project fees rivaling those of Professionally Produced small scale/casual games. Note that in some cases this may refer to music only, while for others it may represent a "full package" (music & sound design) Freelance Compensation/Per Minute rates for Composers: 55% of responders who provided income information also provided their “most typical” per-minute rate for music. Many of the responders said they did not charge or calculate on a ‘per minute’ basis, or declined to provide their rate. As seen below, “per minute” music composition rates by freelancers varied with the scope of the game developed. Additional Contract Terms For all composers, additional compensation above and beyond any fees or salaries they receive are listed below. Note that any game music may be registered withi the PRO, if the owner of the music (often the game developer or publisher) so desires. Work for Hire for Freelance Composers The majority of work i the game industry is "Work for Hire" where the end product is owned by the game developer or publisher. The smaller the game, the more likely it is for a composer to keep ownership of their music. For large budget games, virtually all freelance composition work is "Work for hire," fully owned by the game developer. Note that if a composer is a salaried employee, any music they compose for their employer is also considered a "Work for Hire." Those numbers are not represented in the table above. 2/ Work and Environment: Game Audio professionals are split between freelancers and employees 37% replied that they were pure freelancers, compared with 41% who were employees of either a game company or an audio production house. However, 18% of those who worked as employees (either at a game company or an audio production house) reported earning additional freelance income on the side. Roles of salaried employees For employees of game companies, Sound Design and using Wwise/FMOD (or similar) are the most common job functions. Approximately one in three employees at game companies compose music. However, only 1.7 % of game company employees sole job is to compose music; 3.5% compose music and serve as “audio director” as their only roles. Around 5% of game company employees reported performing dialogue. Among employees of audio companies, sound design and integration using audio middleware such as Wwise/FMOD were the most common roles, as well as managing and implementing dialogue. Approximately 18% compose music, with 0% having music composition as their only role Roles of freelancers Among all freelancers, the most common role is composer, with close to 80% of respondents reporting that they compose music. Of the all composers, approximately 35% report music composition as their only job, or 28% of all freelancers. More than 4 in 10 freelancers use audio middleware such as Wwise/FMOD, and more than 6 in 10 freelancers do sound design. Just over 20% of freelancers said their roles included dialogue management and implementation. Audio Middleware usage The use of 3rd party middleware for games is common, with large budget games more likely to use it than smaller budget games. Of significant note is that many large budget games use their own custom audio engine. Other responses included SCREAM, Master Audio, Haxe, and SECTR 3/ Education Almost 8 in 10 of respondents reported having a bachelor’s degree or higher, just under 1 in 5 reported having had some college or an associate’s degree; Slightly more than 1 in 5 reported one or more graduate degrees. Comparing all respondents with all respondents, marginally more audio professionals have bachelors degrees (63.4% for salaried employees vs 58.8% for all respondents) Among salaried employees who have a degree (2 year, 4 year or graduate degree) 3 in 4 have a music degree Salaries and Education Levels of Recent Hires We define “recent hire” as an employee with 2 or fewer years experience. Recent hire is an proxy for entry level employees Recent Hire Salaries: Mean Salary: $47,720 Median Salary: $42,500 Recent Hire Education A large majority (93%) of recently hired employees in game audio have received a college degree, with the significant majority (81.5%) holding a degree in music or a music-related field. 3.5% of new employees reported having both a music and a computer or other technical degree. Percentage of Income & “Part time” game audio workers We also asked respondents what percentage of their annual income they make directly from working in the game industry vs traditional media or music production or other income sources. Of the respondents, 71% reported games as 90% or more of their income, with another 12% reporting it is at least half. 43% of respondents also reported additional income from audio for traditional media. 23% of respondents stated that 25% or more of their income is derived from a non-content audio-related business they own, while 9.6% stated that they derive 25% or more of their income from a non-audio related “day job.” A bit on statistical validity While this survey attempts to gather and analyze data from the industry in as neutral a fashion as possible, it is not a rigorous MIT-PhD-thesis level report! The 2019 Game Audio Survey, like any survey, has inherent limits and biases. These may include, but are not limited to: The survey was publicized via social media and email networks and known audio groups and via some major music industry web sites. This biases results towards the ‘more connected’ composers and sound designers in the industry, which likely biases numbers a bit high A small number of very anomalous looking responses were all or in part discarded. This may result in pre-conception bias. A very small number of responses were not self-consistent. These were analyzed manually to determine intent. This may result in pre-conception bias. In order to increase participation, survey questions directly related to compensation were optional. Some number of participants may have misrepresented their data. Thank you to the Game Audio Network Guild For assisting in the survey. Contact Brian Schmidt Executive Director, GameSoundCon info@GameSoundCon.com Facebook: Facebook.com/GameSoundCon Twitter: @GameSound

(Photo courtesy of http://elizabethzharoff.com/) Video games are one of the biggest forms of entertainment world-wide with global revenue eclipsing that of the motion picture box office. And the majority of those games require the work of voice over actors and directors. But working on games, as either a voice over director, engineer or as a voice actor, can be quite different than working in more traditional media such as film or television. Here are some things about dialogue and voice acting for video games that may surprise you. Video Games can have a LOT of dialogue Shortly after launch, the game Star Wars: The Old Republic received a Guinness World Record for the "Largest Enterainment Voice Over Project ever." At that time there were over 200,000 lines of English dialogue. As of today, its over 370,000! To put that in context, that's as many lines of dialogue as 125 or more feature-length motion pictures. Fallout 4 has over a Hundred Thousand. That dialogue may be recorded over months or years, and in sections as downloadable content (DLC) is added to the game over time. One challenge for games recorded over long periods of time, or with so much content is character drift. When working on a game where you have recorded characters before, it's always a good idea to listen to your previously recorded lines as a reference! The same dialogue may require multiple performances Because a player may be engaged in different types of action while uttering a line, the voice actor behind the scenes may need to record very different takes of the same line of dialogue, so a game can play the right one based on context. For example, the same line of dialogue may need to be spoken by a character when they are fighting/exherting themselves or if they're just hanging around, so that same line may need to be recorded and delivered twice, The Non-linear Nature of games presents unique challenges Unlike traditional linear media, games' storyline's can ebb and flow or even take completely different directions. Writers, talent and directors must take into account the non-linear nature of today's games, which is in stark contrast to the single continuing storyline of traditional motion pictures or TV. To influence the outcome of the game, the player must have behavior and choices that are each unique and diverse, and the writing and performance of those varied storylines and branching narratives need to be taken into account. Games may be union or non-union There are indie games that are union and big-budget blockbusters that are non-union. It depends on the project budget, contract, studio and contract. Note: you can read the SAG/AFTRA interactive media agreement here Actors may be told little about the characters they are voicing Video game studios can be incredibly tight with information. Video games take a long time--often years-- to produce and studios are concerned about information about their game leaking to the public or press. Talent will likely be required to sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) that may prohibit them from even mentioning that they worked on a particular game. An actor may not be told the title of the game, their character's name, or any parts of the plot until they show up to record. Sometimes actors don't even know what the game was until after it is released and a friend sees their name in the credits. That said, new rules in games that involve union talent have been put into effect, giving actors more visibility into their characters ahead of time. Vocal stress can be an issue Voice Over sessions with lots of yelling, creature sounds, combat exertions, and dying are common in many genres of video games. This can be very stressful to the voice. It is important to schedule accordingly so actors can take care of their voices and not endanger their (your) health. Vocal heal the expert Dr. Reena Gupta says even a little bit of overly stressful VO session work can be damaging so be sure to talk with your talent--if you're a producer-- or your producer--if you are voice talent-- to make sure everyone at the session is comfortable. If you are a voice over actor, be careful about scheduling other voice sessions around a game session that requires a vocally stressful performance. Note that union games have specific limitations on the amount of vocally stressful work that can be done per session, so these need to be kept in mind if you are working on a union game and are excellent guidelines even if you are not! There is a LOT of need for VO in games Video games run the gamut from tiny indie projects with barely any dialogue to massive, high-budget games with lengthy scripts, dozens of characters and even full performance capture that involves full face and body movement. Games with minimal or no character dialogue or game narrative may still need small bits of dialogue recorded for communicating player information, objectives, progress or to otherwise encourage the player. Things like "Start! Ready! Game Over! Great Job!" etc all might be given voice. Small games can lead to big deals People who work in the video game industry are extremely fluid. Designers, developers and directors frequently move from company to company, or form their own startup studios. Today's little indie game developer asking for a dozen lines could easily be a voice casting director at for a major AAA blockbuster game 2 years down the road. So don't be afraid to say 'yes' to a tiny VO session for a low-budget indie game-- you never know where that director will end up down the road. Excel is as important as ProTools Managing the details is crucially important in dialogue for video games. Mundane issues such as filename conventions, versioning, properly tracking the script and managing/tracking actor improvisation can make or break a project. Fluency in spreadsheets such as Excel and Google Sheets is an essential skill for the game dialogue pipeline. I know of one person (a GameSoundCon speaker) who landed her first job in the industry in part because she was one of the only applicants to successfully complete the "spreadsheet macros" portion of the sound design take-home test she had as part of the interview process. Game audio dialogue engineering has so many unique challenges that, in addition to spreadsheets, specialized game audio toolsets are often used to manage the whole process. Virtual Reality is a whole new ballgame Virtual Reality--and it's close cousins Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality-- present a whole new set of challenges. VR provides the player with such freedom of movement, it may require a whole new way of recording and implementing dialogue. Consider the impact of having to script, direct and deliver lines for a character conveying important information to a player, but must feel real and natural whether the player is in intimate conversation 6 inches from the character delivering the line, 3 feet away or on the other side of a large room. #dialoguevideogames #voiceover