Three Big Myths about Working in Game Audio

Ahoy-hoy %FIRSTNAME%,

Just last week, I was giving a presentation to my Game Industry Professional group on how to thrive in today's game industry. It was so much fun, and we covered so much ground that I had to share a tiny bit with everyone.

Giving a presentation to the lovely Game Industry Professional group

There is so much uncertainty surrounding working in games now, and I want to give you a touch of optimism and some mindset shifts that could help you.

So, here are 3 myths that are commonly being peddled to people who are in game audio, or looking to break in to the field.

Myth 1: All That Matters is Getting Good

Many of you already know that this simply isn't true, and it's less true now than it ever has been.

Yes, your skill matters, and you should always keep growing, but if no one knows you exist, then it will never matter how good you are.

Keep meeting people, and keep sending human, non-cookie-cutter messages to them. Show off your curiosity, and be a real person.

And stop begging for jobs!

Myth 2: The Game Industry is Dying and No One is Hiring

Yes, there are record layoffs.

And yes, video game spending went down a tiny bit.

And yet, the game industry still outperforms books, movies, and TV combined.

And the overall spending on games is back to where it was just a few years ago.

Many of these layoffs are triggered by panicked executives who are incapable of thinking more than a few months in advance. It's very stupid.

But here's the thing: tens of thousands of games are still being made all of the world right now, and they all pretty much all need audio.

And if people aren't working in the studio anymore, guess who they turn to?

That's right: freelancers.

There is still tons of lucrative work out there, but, as has always been true, almost none of it is ever posted publicly.

The best audio jobs are the ones you get from your network

The best work is given directly to the people that these game companies know, like, and trust. No reel, no resume, no application.

How do you become known, liked, and trusted? Well, it's by making friends within the industry and networking, silly.

And, if your dream is to eventually work in a big studio, the freelance work you do and the network you'll build will land you a job in AAA much much easier than a reel and resume ever will.

Myth 3: AI Is Going to Destroy Us All

Let me put this simply:

No. 👏

It. 👏

Won't. 👏

I could spend 3 hours presenting data on why generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude, while plenty useful, won't replace you (providing you position yourself correctly).

But unfortunately, these giant companies have spent billions of dollars to keep people uninformed and afraid.

These tools have some good uses (and a lot of truly terrible downsides), but just imagine the basic use-case of replacing a video game sound designer using a generative AI tool:

• Let's say you need 300 sounds for a game

• You go to a generative AI website

• You type in "I'd like a grass footstep sound for my game"

• The AI spits out a kind-of-useful grass footstep

• Then you realize, wait, you actually need it to be a bit more grassy sounding

• So you type in "Please make a footstep that's just a bit more grassy"

• You get a grassier footstep, but it's actually with a heavy boot instead of a bare foot like you had in mind

• So, you type in "barefoot grass footstep extra grassy"

• And yay! One footstep down! What a good use of time not developing the game!

• Now, you'll need 4 variations on that footstep, so time to type some more...

What professional game developer is going to want to do that for 300 sounds, and then implement them, and then go back to the AI when changes inevitably need to be made?

That isn't to say people aren't using these tools for their films/games. There are plenty of projects where things just need to be "good enough" that generative AI is perfect for.

But somehow, I doubt that your dream job was to work with annoying clients who just want you to do something "good enough" for no money at all.

Not only that, these tools are expensive. Wildly so. Way more than their subscription prices lead on.

Every single AI tool is currently absurdly underpriced in hopes to get people hooked (it's not working), and as soon as those prices have to reflect reality, people will start to realize that the price-to-results ratio is quite terrible. Especially for a tool that always makes mistakes.

AI can be a super handy assistant, but it can't replace a human who's curious and is an expert in their field.

But if you don't want to get supplanted by AI, you need to stand out in the right ways, and most people simply don't know how to. They don't realize that just being a basic "composer" or "sound designer" without any serious technical and social skills is going to make them obsolete.

My next article is going to be about exactly that - how to stand out, how to be a human that people are banging down your door to hire, and how to be completely fine in this era of technological shifts and uncertainty.

Talk to you then!