Wildlife at High Score 2023

Early this month, Wildlife Studios marked its presence on High Score 2023. The two-day conference took place in Melbourne, Australia, between September 30th and October 1st, featuring keynotes, panels, and feedback sessions with several industry professionals. High Score has established itself as one of the most important events where music creators, game developers, and industry professionals come together to explore the crucial role of music and audio in game design and how it can improve game experiences.

Our Audio Manager, Fernando Pepe, participated in two of the event’s sessions in which he talks about his experience in team management and audio project development in the game industry. On the first day of the event, Pepe shared the stage with Brave Wave’s CEO Alex Aniel, PlaySide’s Audio Designer Talia Raso, Game Composer Ben Houghton, Pik Pok’ Sound Designer Broghan Blackshaw, and DREDGE’s Composer David Mason in a speedrun session hosted by Angharad Yeo, each professionals shared what they considered to be their most important industry tip in less than 5 minutes.

In addition to emphasizing the importance of sound engineers having game development-related knowledge, Pepe also provided insights  for those who want to work with audio in the game industry on the importance of knowing how to produce music and sound effects and how to implement those. 

“Anyone wishing to work in the game industry needs to keep in mind that, to stand out, it’s not enough just to know how to create a good effect or a different sound. It’s necessary to show more than that and learn how to implement, integrate, and even create the systems needed to make your project work in game development. Invest in middleware and understand how a game is developed – this will make you a standout professional in the market,” explained Pepe.

On the second day of the event, Pepe took the stage for the panel “Making a Team” alongside PlaySide’s Audio Director Chris O’Neill, Sony Playstation’s Joanna Fang, and host Angharad Yeo to discuss the process of building out a team. Pepe mentioned aspects considered to be vital when assembling an audio team for game projects that go beyond the technical aspects, such as a relationship based on teamwork and making sure there’s a cultural match between the team and any new hires.

“One of the key factors for a team’s success is building relationships based on trust. The manager needs to understand which strategy works best with their coworkers, encouraging them to achieve the best results. For this, it is very important to invest in hiring people who have a collaborative profile, who are open and receptive to feedback, and who are multitasking,” highlighted Pepe.

For Wildlife’s Central Audio team, attending High Score was an opportunity to share knowledge, interact and learn from other game audio professionals and companies.  “We are a global company, with partners and players in various countries, so it is essential for us to learn about the project development process in different markets. In addition, we take the opportunity to increase Wildlife’s exposure among industry professionals, sharing knowledge and also attracting new talent to the company,” commented Pepe.

 

Want to join our team of Wilders? 

Check out our job postings here! We’re always looking for top talent.