God of War Composer Criticizes Video Game Audio Standards and Convinces Sony to Redo Game Engine

August 30, 2026 - 06:44

The composer behind the modern God of War soundtracks has publicly slammed the current state of video game audio, and his complaints were serious enough that Sony actually agreed to overhaul its own engine. In a recent interview, the musician explained that most studios he worked with simply told him to write music and stop asking questions. But he refused to accept that answer.

His main issue is that too many games treat audio as an afterthought, something tacked on at the end of development. That approach leads to music that clashes with gameplay, sound effects that drown out the score, and a general lack of emotional impact. He argued that the industry has normalized low standards, where composers are expected to fit their work into broken systems rather than the other way around.

When he brought these concerns to Sony, he expected the same brush-off. Instead, the company listened. They agreed that the engine itself was limiting what the audio team could do, so they went back and reworked parts of it. That meant changing how sound data was processed, how music triggered during combat, and how dynamic layers worked in real time.

The result, he says, is a much tighter integration between what players hear and what they see. He also noted that this kind of collaboration should be standard practice, not a rare exception. Other developers, he believes, are too quick to blame hardware or middleware when the real problem is a lack of willingness to change their workflow.

His comments have sparked a wider conversation online about whether big studios invest enough in audio engineering. Some developers have responded by pointing out that not every team has Sony's budget, but the composer fired back, saying that even small projects can benefit from better planning. He ended by urging other composers to speak up instead of accepting poor conditions, because silence only reinforces the status quo.