Game Maker's Notebook It Takes Two Lead Sound Designer, Philip Eriksson
Apr 11, 2022
Philip Eriksson, lead sound designer at Hazelight who previously worked on Battlefield V and Star Wars Battlefront II, recounts his shift from music to interactive audio. He describes crafting diverse, chapter-specific soundscapes for It Takes Two. They cover team building, huge music scope, split-screen mixing tricks, and practical workflows used to deliver polished, varied audio under tight schedules.
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Joined Hazelight Early And Built The Audio Team
- Philip joined Hazelight early when prototypes were silent and was hired as Lead Sound Designer to build the audio team from scratch.
- He delivered a vertical slice (SFX and some music) that made Joseph fly off his chair and earned studio trust and creative freedom.
Game Identity Was Chapter By Chapter
- It Takes Two needed varied, chapter-specific audio rather than one unified audio tagline because each level is a distinct world.
- Philip says the game’s identity was found per chapter, so audio teams created unique SFX and music per chapter.
Plan Mixing Roles Early With Spotting Sessions
- Coordinate composers and sound designers with spotting sessions and decide mix roles early to avoid wasted effort later.
- Example: they pre-decided where music would carry weight versus where SFX would, e.g., skip drums where explosions dominate.