00:00Sometimes I struggle, you know, you get like imposter syndrome, but for me, it's a moment of
00:04realization that we are all learning, same as the most senior game dev out there here as well.
00:09You can master a tech today, but maybe a month down the road, it changes again.
00:25I'm Eric Evangelista, Associate Audio Director here at Ubisoft Singapore.
00:29I started here at Ubisoft Singapore 12 years ago in 2012.
00:32Hi, I'm Joey, and I'm one of the sound designers here in Ubisoft Singapore.
00:36I've been here for the past three years.
00:38Ubisoft Singapore opened here in 2008, and we just celebrated our 15th anniversary.
00:43Here, we've been able to work on a whole range of different games,
00:46from Assassin's Creed, which is a third-person action adventure game,
00:50where you immerse yourself in history playing a stealthy assassin,
00:53to Skull & Bones, a naval online RPG where you rise to become the most fearsome pirate kingpin.
01:00I remember I had a PS1 at home.
01:03I remember playing Mortal Kombat.
01:05Yeah, that was how old it was.
01:07But I actually remember more of playing on my PC where I love building games like Sims
01:12and Rollercoaster Tycoon.
01:14Yeah, but I think it kind of evolved as I go into like poly, where I love to play,
01:20go to the LAN shop and play until midnight with friends.
01:24Play a lot of L4D, COD, Battlefield, and all these games.
01:29Actually, for me, to be honest, I wasn't much of a gamer until I joined Ubisoft.
01:33I didn't really get much exposure to games when I was growing up,
01:36but I definitely did try to play more games before I started.
01:39Actually, I started gaming more now than before because we also play games for research.
01:43We like to play games and try to see what other games are doing
01:47and how we can adapt those into our games and what we find cool
01:51and see what we can add to our games and make it better.
01:55I think for me, it actually goes way beyond audio formats
01:58and more into how you feel as a player.
02:00Anything that makes the player feel like they're in the game
02:03is what we really try to achieve.
02:05This goes beyond making everything sound true to life.
02:08Moreover, with the new technological advancements in audio hardware,
02:11immersive audio has now become more prominent.
02:13I feel that there's a fine line between what makes it sound like a gimmick
02:18to make it actually feel sound immersive.
02:20So to me, if I can make someone feel like they're in a living, breathing world using audio
02:25without them connecting that to the sound, that would be a win for me.
02:38And rolling.
02:39And rolling.
02:43You're gonna do it like a district duo.
02:45So you go...
02:50Cool. Thanks.
02:51For what we did in Assassin's Creed Mirage, which is based in Baghdad,
02:55our partner studio had reached out to us asking for help
02:59to find a very authentic call to prayer.
03:03Thankfully, one of our IT guys actually knows an actual Muezzin
03:06who was certified for the call to prayer in Baghdad.
03:10We were able to record it locally here, implement it, and have it trigger in-game.
03:24And what was really cool is that we were able to implement it in a way
03:28that tells the passage of time, which is not something that you normally get
03:32in games that are set in a specific time period.
03:35To differentiate the feeling of immersion from the immersive audio tech is subjective,
03:40but how the player feels can be just as unique.
03:43Immersive audio technology is only an additional tool to creating an immersive audio experience.
03:48I think about how we can produce and deliver immersive sound in the best format.
03:52So sound actually originated from mono, meaning one channel.
03:56Everything goes to one channel, so there's no perspective.
04:00But with technology, we have stereo,
04:03and then now we have a more common format, which is 5.1,
04:05which is like five speakers and one subwoofer.
04:08So audio technology is always improving.
04:11In Ubisoft Singapore, we are actually in the midst of building our Dolby Atmos studio.
04:16Bring a format of 714.
04:17Seven means seven speakers on the 2D plane, like horizontal plane.
04:22One subwoofer and four high speakers.
04:24And with that, Ubisoft Singapore will also be the first gaming company in APAC
04:28to have a fully equipped Dolby Atmos studio.
04:31And that is one of the few steps we are taking to lead our industry in this region.
04:42Having worked here for 12 years, it's quite a while.
04:44I've been blessed to be able to ship quite a lot of games.
04:47Personally, I find quite a lot of inspiration more from my team.
04:50It's always easier to overcome anything with a highly passionate and positive team.
04:55Being able to collaborate, bounce off ideas with each other,
04:58make imagination come to life are some of the most
05:01fulfilling things I have been able to accomplish in my career.
05:04My current role as Associate Audio Director here,
05:07some people may say with great power comes great responsibility.
05:11One of my responsibilities that I enjoy is being able to take care of an awesome in-house audio team.
05:16Sometimes I struggle, you know, you get like imposter syndrome.
05:19But for me, it's a moment of realisation that we are all learning.
05:23Same as the most senior game dev out there here as well.
05:26You can master a tech today, but maybe a month down the road, it changes again.
05:31So I have to remind myself to not let the doubt creep in,
05:34but to embrace the change, you know, be motivated by the learning.
05:37And do my best, which is what makes our work fun, exciting and never boring.
05:41The hardest moments for me, you know, we have to stop working on projects midway.
05:45Many people may not know this, but we don't see every project come to fruition.
05:49Everyone tells me that this is part of game dev.
05:51But to be honest, till today, it's still as hard as it is the first for me.
05:55As you know, we really pour our heart into our work.
06:02I think what you need in game audio design really is soft skills like collaboration and communication.
06:08These are incredibly important, especially when working within a multinational organisation.
06:13I know there's some exchange programmes currently happening,
06:16but this is not necessarily exposed to most students.
06:19Our work is incredibly dependent on good collaboration, both locally and globally.
06:24And we make good games by leveraging the strengths of each of our partner studios,
06:27and not by tanking it alone.
06:28Because you can learn all the hard skills in school and be good at what you do.
06:32But in game dev, we are like really highly collaborative.
06:35And that's actually the culture in Ubisoft as well.
06:38You cannot work alone.
06:39We also have to work with different studios.
06:42And different studios come from different countries and they have different cultures,
06:46and hence different communication styles.
06:48So you do have to learn and adapt on the go as well.
06:50Having worked in different companies here in Singapore,
06:53the studio culture is something that took a bit of getting used to.
06:56I remember not feeling alright with wearing shorts for the first nine months to work.
07:01Office culture here is very fun-centric.
07:03Because we definitely believe that you can't make fun games if you're not having fun doing it.
07:07For me, the differences in culture across Ubisoft studios around the world
07:11is the uniqueness of Ubisoft.
07:13There are definitely cultural differences across different studios around the world,
07:17like I mentioned just now.
07:18Because we regularly collaborate with different studios on every project,
07:21everyone knows that it is important to respect the cultural differences.
07:25So to me, this makes our work unique and interesting.
07:28I get to discover different cultures like food, activities, and even music.
07:32And at the same time, learn the nuances in terms of communication.
07:36So in a way, it is interesting to me to get to expand my horizons
07:40through work that is useful as general knowledge and exposure.
07:48I actually encourage the team to think of ways to sign their work.
07:52This can be as easy as putting the coilboard in our ambiances
07:56to making a Gregorian chant where we actually use the names as our lyrics.
08:00One good example is where we added the character of Asna Yathim into Skull & Bones.
08:04We wanted the character to have a uniquely Southeast Asian accent
08:08that is still legible to our players globally.
08:11We settled on a modified Singlish accent,
08:13a bit more like an Asian accent,
08:15on a modified Singlish accent,
08:17a bit more like a Singaporean radio voice,
08:19with a character played by local voice talent, Katanya Tan.
08:23I'm the voiceover artist that plays Asna Yathim in Ubisoft's new game, Skull & Bones.
08:28Come with me to the voiceover studio where I'll be recording more tracks for the game.
08:36Beyond the sounds of battle,
08:37the team also wanted to find voices that highlight the rich diversity of the Indian Ocean
08:42and its surroundings.
08:44One of the first characters that you will meet is Asna Yathim, your first mate.
08:48Originating from Southeast Asia,
08:50she acts as a guide and uses her extensive experience and knowledge to aid you.
08:55For Asna, we needed a voice that could stand out from the other crew bucks
08:59and we made the decision to go with a Singaporean accent.
09:02It was a proud moment for the team based here to be represented in a AAA game,
09:07which is something we don't see very often.
09:09For myself, one of my few passion topics is women in tech,
09:14as well as advocating for the visibility of game sound design,
09:17especially in the aspect of empowering the next generation.
09:20To break down these walls, we have a task force globally
09:23to survey, interview and research the why's and discuss,
09:27you know, the different ways we can address this topic.
09:30So in Ubisoft Singapore, we also hold frequent talks to advocate for women in tech as well.
09:35On the other hand, we also work with educational institutions.
09:38We have programs like industry immersion for lecturers,
09:42as well as holding talks or seminars to empower,
09:45equip and even generate interest in the next generation of students.
09:48The best advice I received was actually from one of our previous audio directors.
09:53There are no stupid questions.
09:55It made such an impact on me and the way that I work that I've added to this,
10:00saying there's no stupid questions.
10:02The only stupid questions are the ones you didn't ask.
10:04I say this to my team so often, they say I should make a t-shirt.
10:08An advice I would give to someone who wants to join game sound design
10:12is to just not give up.
10:14You know, don't be too hasty in getting into your dream position or job after you graduate.
10:19Yeah, if you don't get it the first time, keep trying again.
10:22We also have like internal hiring in Ubisoft.
10:24So actually quite a few of our current sound or voice designers used to be game testers,
10:29a route that can be considered.
10:31Many roads lead to Rome.
10:32So be patient, be open-minded and above everything, just don't give up.
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