Introduction
Audio Middleware
Game Audio and Team Collaboration
    Dealing With Lack of Information
    Integrating Audio Awareness Into Studio Culture
    Audio at the Tail End of Production Cycle
Striking the Right Balance: Quality versus Efficiency
    Know Your Priorities
    “Good Enough”
    Use Sound Constructors (or Sound Palettes)
    Reuse Where You Can
The Last Push
Conclusions and takeaways

Introduction

Hello! My name is Sergey, I’m the studio audio director at Owlcat Games. In August 2025, I delivered a talk at Devcom on developing an efficient and reliable audio production pipeline under resource constraints. This article builds on that presentation, expanding the material and refining it for clarity.

What can you expect here? Primarily, reflections and practical insights on managing an audio team and ensuring that other development departments recognize the importance of their contribution—drawing on more than nine years of experience. This will not be a highly technical discussion; there are already numerous articles and video tutorials showcasing excellent tools that simplify the work of a sound designer. Instead, the focus here is on the foundations of success: how audio work is planned, and how effectively the team communicates with the rest of the studio.

I’ll start with something really obvious. You have a new project, and you are responsible for its audio. By this stage, you likely already know the project scope, the budget allocated for sound and music, and you may even have an initial plan for staffing and timelines. The question is: what additional steps can you take to ensure a strong head start?

Audio Middleware

Admit it, you probably saw this one coming.

Still, it’s one of the most important takeaways: using audio middleware can save your team a significant amount of time and effort. Middleware provides ready-made systems and audio controllers that integrate easily with your game logic. This allows your sound team to get to work much earlier in the production cycle—often without having to wait weeks or months for custom implementation. And this is invaluable for a small team.

For example, on Pathfinder: Kingmaker, our first game, we had just one month of programmer time for setting up audio hooks and fixing bugs. The rest was handled by a single in-house sound designer—and in the end, the audio system was one of the most stable and polished in the entire game. 

Let’s move on to something less obvious, starting with the underlying issues that often arise between the audio team and other departments. 

Game Audio and Team Collaboration

In my experience, there are two key issues that often affect the quality of game audio:

• Limited communication and information flow between departments
• Audio usually being added late in development

The second isn’t really a problem, it’s just how the process usually works, which is why it’s worth discussing.

Dealing With Lack of Information

Let’s be honest: game sound often gets overlooked. Graphics are visible. Gameplay can be tested and tweaked. But audio? To many developers, it just magically appears. And it often comes as a surprise that effort and planning are needed to make it happen at all.

So, what can you do about this issue? There are two common ways to tackle this challenge.

a) Proactive involvement. This means actively staying informed: reading design documents, joining meetings, tracking recent commits, and reminding other teams that a feature isn’t complete until audio has been reviewed (yes, you need to do this from time to time).

Pros: you gain a full picture of the project. You can prioritize tasks, allocate quality levels appropriately, and make sure things actually get done.

Cons: you go from being a sound designer to a full-time manager, leaving little room for hands-on creative work and costing your team a skilled contributor.

b) Automation. You design and create tools that will help you track important changes in the project and timely react to them. For example:

• Automatically generated audio tasks linked to new features or assets
• Data validation tools that report changes in assets (e.g., new lines added to a recorded dialogue)
• GIT hooks that prevent commits which might break audio systems (a controversial but nonetheless effective method)

We combine both methods, but in moderation. In a small team, you still need time to create, not just manage. And too much automation can flood you with noise instead of useful insights.

So here’s what works for us:

• The audio lead attends general and select feature-specific meetings
• They read all major feature design docs—whether for new mechanics, quests, or locations
• They play the game regularly. Simple, but incredibly effective for catching changes that aren’t documented.
• The importance of audio is consistently reinforced across departments. Not with “sound is everything” slogans, but with reminders that no feature is complete without audio. We repeat this often, because people tend to forget, except for the die-hard audio enthusiasts (and thankfully, we have a few on our team).
• We’ve baked audio into the pipeline. No design doc is considered final without review and input from the audio lead. Each major task in JIRA triggers an automated follow-up for audio. And GIT hooks help protect critical systems. Let the robots carry some of the load—they’re meant to make our lives easier.

This approach keeps us informed, helps us react to important design changes, and encourages other departments to account for audio early on. That kind of visibility is essential, especially when resources are limited.

Before moving on to the next issue, I would like to muse a little about how we can help other developers consider audio early on in their work.

Integrating Audio Awareness Into Studio Culture

One of my main observations is that raising awareness about audio is never easy. Even if you regularly attend design meetings and ask other teams how sound could enhance their work, you may find little reciprocation. At Owlcat Games, we’ve been making games for nine years, and with every new project we still have to establish the process of healthy communication from the ground up.

If you want colleagues to better understand the role of sound, here are some practices that have worked for us:

• Integrate audio into design documentation. Most studios use a wiki or Confluence for design docs. Make sure the template includes checkboxes for all major departments: game design, art, narrative, interface, and audio. A document should not be considered final until each department has reviewed it, even if no audio input is needed.
• Create task templates. As audio lead, you know what information your team requires to work efficiently. Others usually don’t. Provide a template that specifies the key details: when and where the scene takes place, which assets are involved, what mechanics are used, deadlines, responsible contacts, and any creative direction. This prevents vague, incomplete tasks.
• Use a “needs clarification” status. In your project management system, add a specific status for tasks that lack information. Mark them as a higher priority so they get addressed quickly.
• Run in-studio talks on game sound. These won’t solve everything, but they help raise awareness. Keep them creative rather than technical. Show how audio can elevate gameplay and narrative, share inspiring examples, and let your passion come through. This makes colleagues more likely to see sound as integral to the experience.

Finally, protect your right to do your job properly. If a feature is pushed to a build without audio involvement, address it directly. First, speak with the responsible leads to clarify expectations. Then involve the project manager, whose role is to ensure smooth collaboration across departments. Keep the conversation constructive. Focus on how to prevent similar issues in the future rather than placing blame.

With that, let’s turn to the second challenge: the fact that audio usually comes only after other departments have completed their work.

Audio at the Tail End of Production Cycle

I’m sure many of you will agree that this is one of the biggest challenges—you can’t create sound for something that doesn’t exist yet.

But let’s face it, release dates won’t be moved just because audio isn’t ready. That means you need to find ways to work in parallel with other departments, or even ahead of them. I call this approach “running in front of a train.”

The idea is simple: figure out what you can create based on concept art, descriptions, or even a rough prototype.

I can’t say exactly what you should prioritize early in your project, but here are a few things that have worked well for us:

• Location Ambience. If you’ve got concept art for a location, you already have a visual starting point. Talk to your narrative and gameplay designers, and you’ll also get a sense of the atmosphere and emotional tone. That’s enough to begin crafting early ambience, laying down base atmospheres and mood-setting background elements. You can refine the details later, once level art, animation, and VFX are in place.
• Enemies & Monsters. You’ll need to wait for final animations before doing full sound design, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prototype. Use concept art, descriptions, and tone references from other media to experiment with vocalizations. Share your ideas with your creative leads. But be careful—things may change or get cut, so keep your early efforts time-boxed and focused.
• Interface Sounds. UI often has well-defined materials and styles from the start: glass, metal, stone, electronics, AR, etc. Use that to create an early sound palette you can draw from later. It speeds up implementation and helps unify the audio style across the interface.

So take a close look during pre-production. Chances are, there’s more you can start earlier than you think. Every bit of early progress helps when you’re inevitably racing toward the finish line.

Now that the train is moving, let’s look at what can be done to keep its journey fast and steady.

Striking the Right Balance: Quality versus Efficiency

Okay, a small team and a huge project—what could go wrong?

Pretty much everything. If you've worked on game audio, you know there's never enough time to make it perfect. Deadlines force you into constant trade-offs, and creativity often has to give way to efficiency.

So how do we manage? We've adopted four guiding principles:

1. Know Your Priorities

Back when we launched Pathfinder: Kingmaker, we noticed on YouTube streams that some locations were missing key footstep sounds—only water and dirt were present. No stone, no grass. But.. nobody noticed!

That wasn’t intentional, of course—we patched it later—but it taught us a valuable lesson: not everything matters equally to players. When time or budget is limited, you need to focus on what does. For example:

• Do your characters need a five-layer footstep system if they’re tiny on screen?
• Should every monster have a vocal cue for each action?
• Is a full-blown weather system necessary, or will a simpler version do?

Always ask these questions. Start with the essentials. Make sure critical systems and sounds are covered, then push the rest to the backlog. Revisit them if you have time, or enough bug reports.

2. “Good Enough”

When I landed my first in-house role, I thought developers released games only when everything was just right. I was quite naive and quickly learned otherwise.

One of the first lessons from our lead narrative designer was: “Make it good enough and move on.”

That’s harder than it sounds. Creative folks tend to chase perfection, but it’s crucial to finishing anything at all. Make something exist. Iterate. And learn when to let go.

How to know when something is good enough? Here are some helpful checks:

• Does it match the reference you were aiming for?
• Will it work in-game as it is?
• Do your teammates think it’s solid?

If you can answer “yes” at least for two of these questions, it’s time to stop.

I’d like you to pay special attention to the last question. Don’t underestimate it. Show your drafts, and get a second opinion as soon as you can. Sometimes a small bit of feedback is all you need to move forward—and avoid overworking a detail no one will notice.

3. Use Sound Constructors (or Sound Palettes)

Not every sound needs to be bespoke. One major efficiency boost comes from creating reusable systems, what we call sound constructors.

These are sets of base components that can be mixed and matched to build complex sounds on the fly.

For example, our magic spell constructor in the Pathfinder series used:

• a physical base
• an elemental layer
• and abstract embellishments for flavor

By combining these elements, you can cover most domain spells efficiently. For example, a Fire Cone and a Fire Line don’t differ much in sound, so there’s no need to design each one from scratch.

Pros:

• Constructors are fast and flexible: you can create consistent results quickly.
• Constructors are efficient: reusing smaller pieces reduces memory load.

Cons:

• Setup takes time: you’ll need to define categories and make sure everything fits together sonically (which takes much time and effort).
• Constructors are not universal: unique areas or events will still need bespoke audio.

You can apply the same logic to ambience, movement sounds, and even narrative moments. It won’t replace traditional sound design, but it might save 15–30% of your time during crunch.

4. Reuse Where You Can

Following the same logic: not everything needs to be original.

If your game has 30 different outfits, do they each need a unique sound? Probably not. Group them into types—light, medium, heavy—and make a set per group.

This goes especially well with ambience. By mid-development, you’ll have created a solid base of location sounds. If you’ve categorized them well, you can reassemble and repurpose them for new areas, adding just a few unique layers.

In fact, around 40% of the audio assets from Pathfinder: Kingmaker were reused in Wrath of the Righteous, which allowed us to focus on the new and more important content in the sequel.

The train is on its way to its final stop: the game’s release. But is this the moment to breathe easy and relax? Probably not. Let’s see why.

The Last Push

Anyone who has shipped a game knows this all too well: the final months before release are the most intense.

Every department is deep in finalizing content: cutscenes are being locked in, visual effects are added or tweaked, and voice acting is implemented. For the audio team, the workload grows rapidly, often creating a bottleneck that can determine whether your game sounds polished or merely passable at launch.

That’s why preparation is essential. Here are a few key strategies we’ve found helpful:

1. Prioritize with Task Triage

At every major milestone, reassess your backlog. Lower the priority of non-critical audio tasks that don’t impact the overall player experience. If time allows, you can always revisit them later.

2. Budget for Outsourcing Early

Plan from the start to reserve some budget for external audio support. As your internal team shifts focus to bug fixing and final polish, you’ll need extra hands to handle late-stage content additions.

3. Prepare Your Outsourcers

Don’t wait until the last minute to onboard your outsourcers. Set aside time early in the project to introduce them to your tools, aesthetic goals, and technical setup. Share documentation, hold a few calls, and if possible, have them contribute on smaller tasks to get familiar with your workflow.

Remember, that this final stretch is your last opportunity to raise the audio quality of your game before launch. Invest wisely, because how your game sounds at release will leave a lasting impression.

Conclusions and takeaways

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope the ideas and practices shared here prove helpful in your own work. A quick recap:

• Use audio middleware to get started right away
• Set priorities early and focus on what matters most
• Stay proactive—don’t miss key updates or decisions
• Make sure audio is part of the conversation in meetings and documents
• Support your workflow with tools, not just people
• Start early—there’s plenty you can do from just concepts and ideas
• Reassess task priorities at each major milestone
• Prepare and train outsourcers in advance
• Check in with teammates often and learn when to stop
• Build reusable sound systems where possible
• Reuse assets smartly to save time and effort
• And most importantly: be patient. Quality takes time.

My big special thanks goes to the Audiokinetic team for publishing this piece and to all these wonderful people I’ve met during Devcom and Gamescom.