A roundtable chat with game audio pros Mark Kilborn and Ville Sorsa.
The video game industry has seen major shakeups in recent years. Leading AAA studios have been forced to downsize, laying off staff by the thousands and canceling highly anticipated titles, while indie smash-hits like Balatro, Animal Well, and UFO 50 have seen massive success. Meanwhile, AI technology promises both disruptions and opportunities. But what will 2025 hold?
In this roundtable conversation hosted by PSE’s Jeremy Siegel, game audio veterans Mark Kilborn and Ville Sorsa offer their insights on how emerging technologies, shrinking budgets, and changing consumer habits might continue to affect the industry; as well as how game audio teams can adapt, survive, and even thrive in this new landscape.
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Content
00:00 - Introductions
Jeremy Siegel is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Pro Sound Effects and the host of several roundtable discussions and livestreams with industry experts.
Mark Kilborn is the Audio Director at Certain Affinity, a collaborative studio developing AAA games for beloved franchises including Halo, Call of Duty, and World of Tanks. Mark’s previous work includes well-known titles such as Project Gotham Racing, Forza Motorsport, and Hogwarts Legacy.
Ville Sorsa is the Principal Audio Designer at Remedy Entertainment, a Finnish studio known for fan-favorite series like Max Payne, Alan Wake, and Control. Having worked on almost every Remedy IP over his 14 years at the company, Ville describes himself as a “jack-of-all-trades.”
1:50 - The biggest trends in game audio in 2025
Jeremy kicks off the conversation by asking Mark and Ville about the major industry trends they’ll be watching this year.
Disruption and opportunities from developments in artificial intelligence
Ville predicts that the double-edged sword of AI will continue to disrupt the industry while also presenting new opportunities. “There's going to be a massive culture impact from that technology, and there's going to be a resistance,” he says. “Like with all new technologies, there's a lot of resistance; and then at some point we'll just accept all these new possibilities.”
Ethical concerns related to generative AI replacing humans
“The whole subject of using AI voice models is kind of touchy in terms of ethics and all that, so I’m looking forward to see where that goes,” Ville says. On the subject of generative AI in music, Ville says his studio is 'leaning towards the absolute opposite direction,' increasing collaboration with real composers.
Mark agrees, adding, “I'm curious to see where generative AI goes for our field; whether it's about just generating sound effects or giving us tools to allow us to be more effective.”
A shift in work culture favoring generalists over specialists
Ville predicts that the advent of AI will reduce the need for specialized roles in game audio and create more demand for generalists. Mark agrees, highlighting the effect of shrinking budgets and team sizes.
“This is something I've felt coming for quite a while,” Mark says. “I don't think the idea of 800-person teams working on games for five years is going to last much longer.” The effect? “I think those of us who can do a bit of everything and do it well are going to last a lot longer than those who are very specialized in one specific thing.”
5:26 - Understanding layoffs in the game industry
Jeremy points out a contradiction: while the game industry boasts approximately three times the revenue of the global film and music industries combined, 10% of game industry workers still lost their jobs in the last year. “What role is AI playing,” Jeremy asks, “Because it's not that actual AI is replacing jobs to be done from a 10% scale right now.”
“AI is not the only explanation; it's a lot of things,” Mark replies. “The quick version is that a lot of venture capital flooded into our industry during the pandemic.” Because of this, he says, “A lot of people – in my opinion, foolishly – thought that's just going to continue; and of course it wasn't.” Those investors then moved on to more predictable industries, leaving game studios high and dry.
In terms of AI affecting the workforce, Mark sees the biggest impact in areas like concept art and 3D modeling, where AI tools are helping artists work more efficiently. “I know of concept artists who are using generative AI trained on their own materials to help them get concept art done at a much quicker pace,” he says. “And when that happens, you just need less people to get through your schedule.”
9:02 - The disconnect between studios and gamers
Jeremy draws a parallel between the motion pictures industry, which favors tried-and-true ‘cash cow’ franchises over riskier original ideas, and the games industry, which is dominated by AAA studios pumping out sequels and remakes with assured profitability. In both arenas, the most creative work is being done by independent creators on micro budgets, with almost nothing in between. Will this model change in 2025?
Mark brings up another concern: the rise of so-called ‘black hole’ games that suck fans in and take up the majority of their playtime. “I have a son who plays Fortnite and does not play anything else,” he says. “From an industry perspective, that kid is essentially off the market. We can't sell him anything anymore.”
The solution to both problems, Mark says, is to put more emphasis on smaller-scale games that provide novelty and value without massive commitment. “I think the smarter money is to give people these side games that they can go play for eight to 10 hours and go back,” he says.
Ville sums up the issue as a disconnect between the studios making today’s biggest games and the audiences they’re making them for, resulting in a loss of originality in favor of business metrics. “I think that at some point we need to pivot back to creativity and just better quality products that people find appealing to actually play,” he says.
13:58 - How the creative process changes for smaller games
Next, Jeremy asks how a shift to smaller-scale games might change the types of stories being told and the creative process in general.
“There's a couple of intrinsic things that don't change,” Ville responds. “Humans are built to create and consumers still want to play and consume products that are human-created; and that will never change.”
Remedy Entertainment, he says, strives to innovate and create a competitive edge by focusing on emergent storytelling and player choices, as well as crossover content between titles such as Alan Wake and Control. “Those are the things that we thrive on,” he says.
15:45 - How AI tools are showing up in audio workflows
The panelists agree that AI is still nowhere close to replacing human talent, but the technology still has exciting potential in certain parts of their workflow.
AI Voice models for placeholder dialogue
Mark reports mixed results using AI to create temporary voiceover content during development. “It's better than text to speech,” he says, “But we're still having to perform into a microphone to get the voice to sound right, and at that point, you might as well just throw an employee in front of the mic.”
Generative sound effect variations
Mark sees an opportunity for generative AI to multiply a sound designer’s output when it comes to repetitive sound effects. He hopes someone will develop “A tool that I can throw a couple of recordings into and say, ‘Hey, I have three of these. I need 20 of these. Please give me more,’ and have it just generate more of them.”
Advanced noise reduction
Audio restoration tools like iZotope RX have used machine learning for years, and Ville predicts that the technology will eventually trivialize recording. “When it comes to restoration and regeneration processes, I believe that in the future it will be a lot easier to record voiceovers and sound effects anywhere, even in a very noisy environment,” he says.
‘Smart rendering’ in consumer audio devices
“When it comes to the consumer side of things, I believe that there's going to be a lot of AI-related derivative mixes and endpoint rendering,” Ville predicts, describing playback systems capable of adapting their output to different hardware and acoustical environments.
Chatbots for everyday non-audio tasks
Outside of audio, LLM–based chatbots have become an everyday tool. “It’s completely changed how I learn,” Ville says. “Just using AI to figure out new stuff and finding new angles in my data or work – that really has improved profoundly because of ChatGPT and similar platforms.”
Jeremy agrees, adding, “The most ubiquitous and probably most-used form of AI currently is just the good old LLM,” which he often uses to generate ideas and summarize content.
21:25 - How to build an audio team in 2025: Mark's answer
“If you were starting from day one right now,” Jeremy asks Mark, “Would you go about building a 2025 audio team in a different way than you would've a few years ago?”
“I definitely would,” Mark responds. “I would keep it smaller,” starting with a core crew of just three or four sound designers and audio programmers.
“There seems to be a big trend towards outsourcing more audio in recent years,” he continues. “I think what we're going to have is very small internal teams with outsourcers rolling on and rolling off to support them rather than the old ‘hire them and then purge them’ via layoff at the end of the project.”
24:25 - How to build an audio team in 2025: Ville's answer
At a company like Remedy, which always has multiple projects in development, Ville emphasizes the importance of audio teams being able to adapt and scale quickly.
“We're still in the process of figuring out what works for us as a multi-project company,” he explains, “but I most definitely agree with the concept of having a core team inside the company for a project and then extending that to whatever project needs are, especially because you need to dynamically grow over time – you know, the classic ‘hockey stick moment’ where suddenly everything needs to get done at the same time.”
Returning to the subject of layoffs, Jeremy points out that audio teams are not among the top groups being affected. “If we're laying off 10% of the company,” he asks, “How is it that audio is not affected quite as much?”
“It depends on the studio, but generally speaking, audio tends to be a little understaffed and a little spread thin, and so that makes it harder to cut from us,” Mark explains. “It's definitely harder to cut an audio team when they're already a pretty small component of the company.”
“If you're a multi-project model company,” adds Ville, “Then some of these smaller teams can be distributed to other projects, as well.”
27:44 - How studios can support audio teams
Asked how they’d like to see developers support audio teams, the panelists emphasize the importance of appreciating the impact of sound, giving it proper attention and resources, and encouraging collaboration.
Build a culture of audio appreciation
“The biggest thing for me is that you need to just have an audio culture in the company you're working at,” says Ville. This means understanding the value of audio in building immersion, guiding players, and creating emotional experiences. Outsiders are often surprised at how broad the discipline of game audio is, he says.
Give sound the same attention as visuals
“There's definitely a bias toward visual components taking the bulk of resources, attention, and care,” Jeremy points out, asking why audio is so often ‘hand-waved’ by executives who expect it to ‘take care of itself.’
Unlike visuals, Mark explains, “Our craft exists in the time domain, and it's harder to analyze that way. I think that makes it just naturally more mysterious to people.” He also brings up the self-defeating tendency of passionate creatives to push through budget and time restrictions without complaining. “And then there are people that control the money that say, ‘Well, if you figured out how to make it work last time, just figure out how to make it work again’,” he says.
Encourage cross-department collaboration
A healthy workplace, Mark says, should have “A culture of upstream disciplines being more understanding and respectful of what's downstream of them.” He gives examples like designers reaching out to audio departments for input on a new feature or producers inviting audio personnel to share their expertise in important meetings.
31:43 - How to advocate for audio at your company
When it comes to advocating for your audio team, Jeremy asks, “How do you put that message out about the emotional impact that they're missing out on if they don't put that emphasis on audio?”
Emphasize the emotional connection that audio brings
The value proposition of audio comes from the intangible ‘feel’ and emotional connection it can add to a game, says Ville. “That's the yardstick that's easily applyable – to our products at least – so that people really respect and value the audio work that is put into the games.”
Share your work with colleagues
“I'm set up to record video clips of things very quickly,” Mark explains, “So I am very frequently dropping little videos into public Slack channels of, ‘Hey, I just made the sound for this,’ or ‘Somebody on my team just did that,’ and ‘Here's a before and after so you can hear what it's doing.’” He also jumps at any opportunity to give internal presentations about his team’s work.
Step out of the silo
“There's this tendency of audio people to be siloed and kind of off in a corner by themselves doing things and people hear the results in-game,” says Mark. “So I'm trying very hard to broadcast out to the rest of the team, ‘Here's what we're doing, here's why it's important.’”
35:35 - Positive things happening in the game audio industry
While the state of the industry can seem unpredictable and scary, Mark and Ville still see plenty to be excited about.
“I'm very appreciative of the latest developments in AI,” says Ville. “Yeah, there's going to be a lot of disruption, but there's going to be a lot of opportunities as well. It's going to profoundly change our work; how we operate.” His advice is to learn, adapt, and “Practice gratitude that you're still in this amazing, amazing industry doing just amazing entertainment products.”
From a gamer’s perspective, Mark is hopeful that he’ll continue to see more unique, original games from smaller studios with larger budgets. “My heart is in weird games,” he says. “So I look at what's happening in indie game development right now. There's some really incredible games coming out.”
“I want to see more studios like Grasshopper and Platinum and Remedy out in the world, and less generic military first-person shooter makers,” adds Mark. “I want to see these really interesting studios doing really cool things, and I think we're on the verge of seeing a lot more of that.”
To conclude, Jeremy gives Mark and Ville a chance to talk about anything else they’re excited about.
“Go play some indie games,” Mark says. “There's some amazing things happening in that space,” such as Steam Next Fest. “Just go play some interesting stuff. Look beyond the triple-A sphere. There's some really amazing games out there.”
“Absolutely,” Ville agrees. “Find fun, creative games outside of the regular triple-A realm. There's a lot of cool stuff there.”
Dante Fumo is a Minnesota-based freelance sound designer, editor, and mixer with more than a decade of experience working with sound. In addition to his audio work, Dante composes instrumental music that incorporates sound design and spatial audio.
