The area of the creative industries that I am going to be focusing on in this portfolio is the game audio industry. I will be exploring the different routes into this profession, what projects look like as well as any potential challenges that impact the job. I chose the video game industry as it is a growing industry that is becoming increasingly popular. I interviewed Ciaran Walsh, head of audio at Studio Gobo and Ben Pickersgill, Senior Audio Designer at Studio Gobo to help give me an insight into the industry.

Unlike many traditional professions, to work in the game audio industry there is no specific pathway or academic qualifications that are necessary mainly due to the fact that, until recently, degrees in composition for games simply did not exist. Although helpful for gaining music theory knowledge, improving your musical ear and learning basic music production, a degree is not crucial and it is possible to learn these skills through your own practice and experience in other parts of the creative industry. However in 2025 “100% of recent hires have at least a bachelor’s degree; 90% of which include a major or minor in music, sound or game audio.” (Brian Schmidt, 2025). Previously, both Walsh and Pickersgill were artists before going onto work on a large variety of projects, mostly unrelated to video games. The most effective way of getting into the games industry is by building a varied CV and taking every musical opportunity. It is important to have a strong foundation in working with sound and be confident with technology. By doing this you can build your portfolio whilst learning and making connections across industries. The lack of a conventional recruitment process means that entry into the games industry can be unpredictable. Walsh (2025) said how “It was a personal connection that opened the game’s opportunity up.” 

Although there are no formal qualifications needed to enter the industry, there are skills that are crucial in order to have a successful career. It is important to have core audio skills like a good critical ear and the ability to edit and manipulate sounds within a DAW. Pickersgill (2025) explained that a high skill level with DAWs, specifically Reaper, experience using audio Middleware and experience using game engines are all highly desirable skills within the profession. As well as technology, it is important to have musical skills. A basic understanding of music theory is essential as the job requires you to be able to take sounds apart and piece them back together. 

As well as technical skills there are personal qualities that are needed to build a successful career. Walsh (2025) says that the personal qualities are “more important I think, you need a curiosity and a desire to learn, people who are successful are always learning.” This shows how important attitude to learning is, having the skills already isn’t as essential as the drive and motivation to improve. In addition, good communication and interpersonal skills are important. The games industry consists of different teams, all working together to achieve a shared goal. A game is made up of lots of different parts, created by separate specialised teams, that interlink and depend heavily on each other. Therefore working in audio requires communication with the other teams as well as the directors to ensure that you are staying on track. This also means that empathy is important to understand others to ensure that everyone can work together productively. It is also necessary to be able to take on feedback and criticism in a productive way that allows you to improve and achieve the shared goal. From the point of view of a senior or head role, your personal qualities are more crucial as you are leading a team. As well as everything stated previously, it is also necessary to understand and listen to people and give consideration to what people need in their careers and to think about what motivates them or holds them back and to use this to their advantage to ensure everyone is working to the best of their ability. 

General duties and responsibilities vary slightly depending on their position within this profession. For the most part, the main duties consist of designing sounds, conceptualising and creating assets, putting music into games and making tools that can be used to help increase productivity of work. For a team leader, their tasks also include managing their team. They are responsible for organising the work their team is doing and supporting them. As well as this they are responsible for the quality of work and finding any problems and dealing with them adequately. In terms of a typical day’s work, it changes over the course of a project. Generally speaking, a day starts with admin. Catching up with emails and connecting with other teams. Due to the global nature of the games industry this often means catching up with teams in different time zones. There is a daily morning meeting allowing everyone to discuss what work has been done and what they will be working on next. This is important as it ensures that everyone stays on top of the work load and that everyone is on track to meet the deadlines, maintaining accountability. After the morning meeting, a typical day consists of a mixture of meetings and practical work. Pickersgill (2025) explained how a typical work day for him consists of “creating assets in a DAW, implementing them into a game engine, testing them, tacking videos for reviews with directors.” Assets are audio files created for the video game. When working at a lower level, the daily tasks will be more practical compared to a lead position where a typical day can be made up of more admin and planning than actual hands-on work. 

A typical project has 5 main sections with most projects spanning roughly two years. It starts with pre-production. An idea is presented to the audio department along with what they need specifically from the audio team. It is then the audio departments job to decide what they are going to make in order to fulfil their brief, conceptualising and building prototypes to explore how the game is going to work in reality. It is also important to plan in order for the production process to run smoothly. It is in pre-production when all the technology needs are figured out as well as researching the platforms the game is being made for to ensure that their products will work. Then it is time for production to begin. This stage is where the game is brought to life, it involves working within the team to create assets and make systems as well as communicating with the other disciplines like animation to understand what they need from the audio department. It is important to understand the timeline and when different parts of the game are coming online to ensure that everyone is meeting those deadlines. From the point of view of Walsh (2025) who is head of audio, production also includes “representing the audio team in project wide discussions and getting the resources my department needs.” After the production stage the project moves into the Alpha stage. At this point in development the core structure of the game is complete and the different parts function however the details are still missing. It is during alpha where the final compositions and recordings typically occur. After alpha, the project moves into beta where the game is nearly finished. The focus is now on fixing bugs and making last minute adjustments and balancing compromising the quality of the work with what realistic goals to finish in time for the release. Finally the closing out phase is when the loose ends are tied up and the final checks are made to ensure the game is in good shape and ready for release. This phase also acts as a transition period between projects where it is the senior leader’s job to manage the change and figure out what is next for the audio department. 

There are a few intellectual challenges this job can cause due to the knowledge of complex systems and level of communication needed. Working as a game audio creator requires a deep understanding of how the game works and the relationship between various factors and how they influence the sound. It can be challenging defining what the content will be and requires making detailed spreadsheets to organise the technical communications of how the music should behave in different conditions to direct the composers which is different every time so must be repeated for every project. Sound design involves a lot of problem solving when using complex software as well as creative challenges when creating audio. 

As well as being intellectually demanding, there are personal challenges that arise when working in game audio. Due to the fast-paced and deadline focused nature of the industry it is easy to become burnt out. It is common for people to become increasingly stressed when it comes to the end of projects as people are very passionate about their work so it can be mentally frustrating when they have to sacrifice quality to fit within the time constraints. In regards to a head of audio position there is the added challenge of working with a team and having to manage redundancies, projects failing and conflict within teams that can potentially get in the way of working efficiently. This can be incredibly stressful and requires lots of patience and compassion to try to keep your team as happy as possible. 

In addition to the personal challenges there are also industry wide financial challenges that affect job security. The overall health of the games industry is weak at the moment. After benefitting from a massive increase in video game sales during the pandemic, Game Developers Association executive director Dr Jakin Vela explained in an interview with Polygon (Nicole Carpenter, 2023) how “large investments in games in 2021 and 2022 encouraged expansion at an accelerated yet unsustainable rate,” resulting in 2023 being one of the most “volatile periods in the games industry in the last 15 years.” Due to rising inflation and increased interest rates, games companies are cutting down with reduced hiring and growing numbers of redundancies. The exact numbers of redundancies are hard to find due to the lack of transparency from large games corporations however according to Schmidt (2025) in the GameSoundCon Game Audio Industry Survey, “Layoffs affected 16% of salaried employees.” The reduction in job opportunities leads to increased competition creating instability which affects the whole team. 

There are also legal issues present within the job. Non-disclosure agreements mean that sound designers can not discuss their work freely during a project which can last years at a time. This can make it difficult to self-promote or make career progressions. As well as this, licensing and patents can become an issue as they can restrict creative options when original ideas can not be used as they exist already as patents held by larger companies. This can be frustrating as it limits creative ideas.

Depending on your position within the audio team determines how much promotion your job requires. As Walsh (2025) describes how he has to “help with marketing support for the game” and studio marketing by providing sounds from the game or creating audio for video reels or television adverts. As well as promoting the company it is also crucial to do self promotion by networking or marketing themselves on linkedin or giving talks at conferences. This opens doors to future job opportunities or collaborations.

Career progression in the audio industry is largely built from networking and self promotion. Once in the industry the most important thing is to take as many opportunities as possible and gain experience working on a variety of games. The main form of career progression is working up the ranks within a studio, slowly gaining more responsibility. It is possible to accelerate career growth by moving between studios or joining a smaller start-up company which allows you to grow alongside the company. 

In conclusion, a career in the game audio industry is highly rewarding and engaging. It requires lots of motivation and a balance of creativity and technical problem solving skills. It is a relatively accessible career, relying on a strong foundation of music theory and people skills. Despite the volatile nature of the industry, there are many opportunities and skills to be learnt within this career with its fast-paced nature and team focused attitude.

Bibliography:

Walsh, C. (2025) Working in the game audio industry [Spoken interview]. 22 December 2025, 14:27.

Pickersgill, B. (2025) Working in the game audio industry [Email]. Message sent to Walsh, M. 22 December 2025, 14:30.

Schmidt, B. (2025) GameSoundCon Game Audio Industry Survey 2025: Game Music and Sound Design Jobs Data. Available online: https://www.gamesoundcon.com/post/gamesoundcon-game-audio-industry-survey-2025#viewer-1e3qe90408 [Accessed 22/12/25]

Carpenter, N. (2023) Video game company layoffs are creating an industry crisis. Available online: https://www.polygon.com/23964448/video-game-industry-layoffs-crisis-2023/ [Accessed 22/12/25]

Interview with ciaran walsh  TRANSCRIPT                  22nd December 2025

M – So could you give me a quick overview of your career for me

C – Yes so I started out making my own electronic music after dropping out of school. I spent about 5 years recording and performing as well as on and off work doing music commercially  for adverts ect. At 26 I met up with a friend who was starting a video game studio and he temporarily hired me to investigate interactive music for him. This turned into a permanent job working with composers doing tech stuff and everything else to do with sound, for example sound effects and recording voices. The studio closed and so I started a new studio with some others doing the same role. The studio grew and I became an audio director creating a team below me. I then left that studio and founded another start-up however that folded. This is when I started my own company, Hornet Sound doing freelance sound related stuff like sound design, programming and looking after audio for other companies. After a few years I moved to a new studio which is where I am now.

M- Amazing, what qualifications do you have and were they necessary for getting a job in the game industry?

C- None at all. The game industry now is quite different to when I joined it. There wasn’t such a thing as a degree in the stuff I do now, not for audio. So it was a bit of a wild west at the time so for my generation its quite common for them to have just have been figuring it out as they go along. It wasn’t a barrier to me, the way I got into the industry was quite random. It was a personal connection that opened the games opportunity up.

M- What experience did you have before entering the industry?

C- I had foundational skills like being good at working with sound and samples. Also working with digital audio and editing and figuring out systems. All of these were transferable knowledge from doing electronic music.

M – ok, What are skills you think are needed to succeed within the profession?

C – There’s sort of two sides. You need core audio skills like editing skills, having a good critical listening ear and being able to work with plugins and manipulate the sounds. They are all crucial skills. Then there’s the musical skills you need like a basic understanding of music and music theory so you can think about how to pull music apart and put it back together again.

M – What about personal qualities?

C –  More important I think you need a curiosity and desire to learn. People who are successful are always learning. Good communication and interpersonal skills are also needed as you will be working with others on a team. From my point of view in a lead role, empathy is crucial to understand where others are coming from within your team, being able to listen to people and give consideration to what people need it their careers and what motivates them or holds them back so you can successfully guide your team

M –  Ok so generally speaking what are you duties/responsibilities in this profession?

C – So for me its managing people, I am responsible for the day to day of my team. I do the admin and support my team to make sure they develop. I am responsible for the quality of work on projects so Its my job to spot problems and deal with them. Then theres the more practicle side of designing sounds, putting music into games and making tools that my team can use to do their work and speed things up.

M – What does a typical work day look like for you?

C – My day starts with catching up with messages and emails and connecting with teams in other time zones to hear what they have done over the night. We then have a daily morning call where we talk about where everyones at and what they will be working on. This means I can stay on top of what everyones doing to make sure we are on route to meet deadlines. After that its a mixture of meetings about projects, leadership calls or any specific things that need to be talked about and hands on work.

M – What about for a project, how does that look? And how do your duties change over the duration of it?

C – A project lasts about 2 years and theres different stages to development. Theres pre production wich is about figuring out what we are going to make and how. I work out what all the tech needs are and make a plan to get that in place. I look at what platforms it being made for so we can make something compatible with that platform. Then theres creative exploration, digging for music references and supporting the building of prototypes to explore what the games gonna be. Then we go into production, actually making it. This involves working with the team and understanding which bits are coming online at different points and doing the work to support that. For me its reviewing the work and representing the audio team in project wide discussions and getting the resources my department needs – cross-department stuff. We then go to the alpha stage wich is when the bones of the game are there and everything functions but details are missing. We work on the final music and recordings. Then its beta where the game is more or less ready. This phase is mainly last minute fixing of bugs. There’s lots of compromises we have to make during this phase due to time, I have to manage what to do whilst being realistic. Then its mixing and bringing everything together. The last bit is the closing out phase where we fix any bugs and make sure the loose ends are tied up and its in good shape to be released. We also have discussions in this phase about whats next and I help to manage the transitions between projects.

M – Are there any intellectual challenges caused by this job that affect you?

C – yes, theres lots of complicated systems and team dynamics wich are challenging. Theres the technical challenges, how you are designing things and having to put together a detailed understanding of how the game works and what are the factors that need to affect what the music does. As well as defying what all the content is going to be. I have to make a big complicated spreadsheet organising the technical communications and ingredients to send to the composer. Its tricky and its different every time so I have to do a new one at the start of each project.

M – what about personal challenges?

C – Its stressful. Especially towards the end of projects when your running out of time and having to compromise on things. Its also hard working with a team, having to manage redundancies and when projects fail and its not possible to fully pay people, thats really hard. Also managing conflict in teams when its getting in the way of working.

M – Are there any financial or legal issues that impact your profession?

C – yes actually. The general health of the industry right now affects things like the prospects for the studio for new projects. Its harder to sign the next thing and theres less choice as the industry is not thriving right now. Legally, non-disclosures can be a pain, you cant talk about what your working on during a project and projects are long so it can go years at a time without being able to talk about your work so you just go dark career wise which can make it hard to promote yourself and find new work. Theres also patents wich are a pain, previously weve had it where we were inventing stuff but then discovered some big company had already invented it and patented it so then we cant use it or have to pay to do so.

M – interesting. Are there any marketing or promotional aspects of your job that you have to deal with?

C – yeh so if the studio are making promotional content they will ask me if they need audio like for a video reel of animation work for example. Then I also help with marketing support for the game that i do around the beta stage, helping with tv ads by providing them with certain sounds from the game ect. I also do self promotion or studio promotion post launch like updating linkdin or doing talks at conferences, things like that.

M – finally, what career-progression or development opportunities are available within your profession?

C – The hardest bit is getting your first job, once your in its just about making lots of games. Obviously self promotion and networking are important to build connections. Once your within a job or studio you can work through the ranks with promotions and pay rises. This can be accelerated by moving studios. Its also common that if you are with a start up that you grow with it. Its more about making lucky bets on where you go and work, generally it doesnt involve training

M – perfect thats everything thanks for talking to me

C – no worries i hope that was helpful

Ben Pickersgill email interview transcript

From: Ciaran Walsh <ciaran@hornetsound.com> Subject: Fwd: questions for your friend
Date: 18 December 2025 at 15:13:19 GMT
To: Molly <mollyfwalsh00@gmail.com>

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Ben Pickersgill <ben.pickersgill@studiogobo.com> Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2025 at 11:51
Subject: Re: questions for your friend
To: Ciaran Walsh <ciaran@hornetsound.com>

1. Can you briefly explain your career path/what jobs you have had? – I have worked in charities (homeless outreach, multiple complex needs) as a trainer and communications lead, around this I have taken up various freelance jobs within the music industry from Studio Engineering, Live PA Engineer, Sound Recording for corporate jobs, Music Artist, Professional DJ over the last 15 years

2. What qualifications do you have? Were they necessary for getting a job in the game industry? I have a Higher Diploma in Guitar from BIMM, I did a Diploma course at ACM Music Production (I don’t think I ever actually finished this!). No I don’t I believe these were necessary for getting into the industry BUT it was great for training my ear and putting me on a path into music.

3. What experience did you have before entering the industry? I had 8 years as a signed music artist in electronic music, various work for small Live PA gigs, Studio Recording and Sound recording for Corporate videos (all very ad hoc), I also managed to pick up some work composing a soundtrack for a game in 2019. Basically I just took the opportunity to do any music / production / audio related work i found interesting (that

paid) and over my 20s i’d built up a fairly varied CV related to audio

4. What skills are needed to succeed within the profession? Computer literacy, a High skill level with DAWs (understanding of how to use Reaper highly desirable), Experience using audio Middleware (Wwise, Fmod), Experience using game engines or an understanding of how they work (desirable).

5. What personal qualities are useful to succeed within the profession? The ability to take on and understand feedback and criticism, Communication, Critical Listening, Organisation, Being a nice person (desirable, ha)

6. Generally what are your duties/responsibilities in this profession? Conceptualise, create, implement / deliver assets to a high quality.

7. What does a typical work day look like? Catching up with communication in the morning (whats happening, what’s been done etc), creating assets in a DAW, implementing them into a game engine, testing them, taking videos for reviews with directors etc, iterating. (Generally this is what my day looks like when we are in full production!)

8. What does a typical project look like? How do your duties change over the duration of the project? In pre production it’s more about conceptualising and planning, in production it’s the above basically, creating assets or making systems, attending meetings and collaborating with other disciplines (talking to animation, understanding their

dependencies etc)

9. Are there any intellectual challenges caused by this job that affect you? (something that requires lots of brain power/ pushes you) Yes, often! Understanding specific systems, production planning, problem solving with various bits of software o even creative challenges related specifically to audio

10. Are there any personal challenges you face due to your job? Yep, people often burn out in this industry because people are very passionate about their work and output its common to push yourself too hard, lose track of time or get frustrated becasue you are unable to do your work to your best ability because of time constraints

11. What are the main financial/legal issues that impact your profession/job security, if any? Not really, the industry at the moment is in a bit of a bad shape due to many reasons (large corporate investment)

12. Are there any marketing or promotional aspects of your job that you have to deal with? If so, what does this look like for you? Not really, some people like to market themselves on linkedin to help with networking or personal visibility to other companies

13. What career-progression/development opportunities are available within your profession? There are many! Even just within audio you are able to pivot into many other disciplines or progress as a sound designer to lead and director positions, it’s a great industry for career progression compared to a lot of audio / music based careers (IMO)