Exploring Spatial Audio in Games: An Introduction

Written By Wayne Brown

What are the goals of this journey:

The goals of this journey are simple. I want to use this space to explore spatial audio technology in video games. There are a plethora of tech to get started with such as Dolby, Wwise, and HRTF. This blog will serve as an ongoing exploration of all things spatial audio as the technology continues to evolve. For now, we’ll start with Dolby Atmos Integration with Wwise and the entire Wwise spatial audio api. Then we’ll move into custom HRTF, binaural vertical reproduction of audio using spectral manipulation, and Microsoft’s project acoustic (native and with Wwise). The list will continue to grow, but in short this is what we’re looking at for the year. I hope you come along with me and enjoy the journey.This will be a breadth first approach, so we may not do as deep a dive as we’d like into all features. I want to cover as many features as possible to serve as a starting point with some depth. So I won’t be comparing different HRTFs, or maybe I will. The idea is to be led by curiosity and discover as much as possible. 


  • Wwise Spatial Audio Integration

  • Dolby Atmos Integration

  • Wwise spatial audio features:

    • Ambisonics

    • Spatial Audio:

      • Rooms, Portals, Zones - 

      • Geometry

      • Using Raw Image Sources

      • Third Person Perspective and Spatial Audio

      • Spatial Audio Concepts

    • 3D Positioning Parameters

      • Focus

      • Height Spread

      • Attenuation

      • Cone-Shaped Boundaries

      • Defining spatial positions using animation paths

      • Positioning Best Tips and practices

    • Bus Configurations

    • Binaural Audio


What is the purpose of this journey:

The reason I want to do this is to centralize information for spatial audio for new sound designers and audio programmers to be able to explore. I want to document interesting features, implementations, and showcase thorough research on performance/implementation on spatial audio. 

My Measurable objective:

Each section will have a specific measurable objective. As a whole, I want to provide a thorough documentation of each feature. 

What is needed for this journey:

I’ll be going back and forth between Unity and Unreal to explore the differences in game engines as well. Other than that, we’ll be installing a 5.1 surround sound system and use headphones as well to make our journey slightly more accessible for everyone.


Wayne Brown https://themorethanevers.com