Surprisingly little has been written in the field of ludology about the structure and composition of game audio. The available literature mainly focuses on production issues (such as recording and mixing) and technological aspects (for example hardware, programming and implementation). Typologies for game audio are scarce and a coherent framework for game audio does not yet exist.

This article describes our search for a usable and coherent framework for game audio, in order to contribute to a critical discourse that can help designers and developers of different disciplines communicate and expand the borders of this emerging field.

Based on a review of existing literature and repertoire we have formulated a framework for game audio. It describes the dimensions of game audio and introduces design properties for each dimension.

Introduction

Over the last 35 years, game audio has evolved drastically -- from analogue bleeps, beeps and clicks and crude, simplistic melodies to three-dimensional sound effects and epic orchestral soundtracks. Sound has established itself as an indispensable constituent in current computer games, dynamizing¹ as well as optimizing² gameplay.

It is striking that in this emerging field, theory on game audio is still rather scarce. While most literature focuses on the production and implementation of game audio, like recording techniques and programming of sound engines, surprisingly little has been written in the field of ludology about the structure and composition of game audio.

Many fundamental questions, such as what game audio consists of and how (and why) it functions in games, still remain unanswered. At the moment, the field of game studies lacks a usable and coherent framework for game audio. A critical discourse for game audio can help designers and developers of different disciplines communicate and expand the borders of the field. It can serve as a tool for research, design and education, its structure providing new insights in our understanding of game audio and revealing design possibilities that may eventually lead to new conventions in game audio.

This article describes our search for a usable and coherent framework for game audio. We will review a number of existing typologies for game audio and discuss their usability for both the field of ludology, as well as their value for game audio designers. We will then propose an alternative framework for game audio. Although we are convinced frameworks and models can contribute to a critical discourse, we acknowledge the fact that one definition of game audio might contradict other definitions, which, in the words of Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman "might not be necessarily wrong and which could be useful too" (2004, p.3). We agree with their statement that a definition is not a closed or scientific representation of "reality".

We initially focus on a useful categorization of game audio within the context of interactive computer game play only. The term "game audio" also applies to sound during certain non-interactive parts of the game -- for instance the introduction movie and cutscenes. It concerns parts of the game that do feature sound and interactivity as well, but do not include gameplay, like the main menu. It even includes applications of game audio completely outside the context of the game, such as game music that invades the international music charts and sound for game trailers. We intentionally leave out the use of audio in these contexts for the moment, as there might be other, more suitable, frameworks or models to analyze audio in each of these contexts -- for example, film sound theory for an analysis of sound in a cutscene.

¹ Making the gameplay experience more intense and thrilling.

² Helping the player play the game by providing necessary gameplay information.