Against the obvious charms of graphics, game audio still finds itself undervalued and underfunded, with some audio specialists claiming only six per cent of a game's production budget being dedicated to it. And yet audio is on the up and ever evolving. In the wake of the Games Meet Film conference at Pinewood Studios, to discuss the place of music in games and its complicated relationship with film music, Edge caught up with some of the field's leading figures - Sony Creative Services manager Dan Bardino; TV, film and game music composer James Hannigan (credits include Space Hulk, Command And Conquer 4 and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince); creative manager at audio production specialist Media Mill Jerry Ibbotson; freelance sound designer Alex Joseph; and Ubisoft Reflections audio director Jon Vincent.
HALIFAX (April 14, 2026) – Laid-off Ubisoft workers in Halifax have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a settlement with the video-game giant. The terms of the settlement, including the compensation employees will receive, is confidential.
I can't sit here and act like I know these workers financial situations. And I'm sure nobody wakes up WANTING to go to court. But for the sake of the industry, I wish some of these types of cases made it to trial.
Settlements allow companies to continue to do whatever abusive practices they do. While the trials (should the company lose) would actually force real changes for the better.
But again, I'm not in these workers shoes and I can understand them not wanting to risk it.
Former Xbox executive Ed Fries comments on the early days of Xbox, the opinion of Japanese game companies, and more.
Replies(2)I dont think that'll ever happen. But i must say back in the day, they were definitely trying because they were more cash rich than their competitors.
I think MS were and still are the richer company. They tried to acquire Sega back in the day (and considered doing so again more recently), they obviously bought exclusivity to Halo which was originally shown as a Mac title. I don’t think as a company MS can claim the moral high ground here. It’s a wilful lack of self awareness.
Of course Sony would try exactly the same if they had the resources, but when the PS2 dominated the industry was in a much healthier place with an abundance of great third parties.
This has been a depressing generation as far as first party decisions are concerned. The fact we are debating business plans rather than which game is better is a sad reflection of the state of things.
There was Nintendo as well, Sony wouldn't have had a monopoly. In fact, the world would be better today if Xbox never existed in the first place. They pretty much brought all bad practices we have today. We might have gotten all of it either way, but not this early. In term of franchises, I don't think there is anything Microsoft released that would actually be missed if it didn't exist. Even Halo the world wouldn't notice if Halo didn't exist.
I think almost everyone will agree that a monopoly is not good for the industry. But that being said, the competition needs to be smart and strategic with their business. Simply buying up publishers and traditional third-party studios just to keep them out of the other companies reach is not a sustainable practice. That goes for all parties so don't think I'm just referring to Xbox.
I'm no business guru by any stretch of the imagination but I firmly believe that the best way to drive consumers to your software and hardware is to invest smart in your first-party studios. Give them full support and guidance in making unique, fun games that are only available to play in your ecosystem and the gamers will come.
But first party studios aren't enough. They only make up a small portion of the industry. Without 3rd party there would be no industry for Microsoft or sony.Developing games take time and money and sometimes you gotta make moves to stay competitive.
Nah, I never said first-party was enough. I said it’s the ‘best way’ to drive gamers to your platform. 3rd-party is a free-for-all and there’s no guarantee that gamers will use your hardware to play the game. If you want to push your own software and/or hardware you need first-party, or at least exclusive deals with third-party studios.
Then why be so emotional and continue to talk about it. Xbox will never die be ause it stays in so many people's head.
How can you even see him being "emotional" in that comment?
If anything, you're the emotional one, constantly trying to go at anyone that says anything against Microsoft. So when you call him emotional, it comes off as deflection
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Two-day event includes exclusive reveals, trailers and playable games on show floor.
