High Voltage banks on unlimited Audiokinetic licence

Chicago-based developer High Voltage – the outfit behind Wii title The Conduit – has struck a long-term deal with audio middleware group Audiokinetic.

High Voltage now has an unlimited licence to use Audiokinetic’s Wwise audio solution, but beyond this the middleware group has explained to Develop that the two will work very closely together on all audio projects.

“By offering advice and feedback, we feel we will be part of the High Voltage team itself,” an Audiokinetic representative said.

The two groups first broke the ice in 2007, when High Voltage licensed Wwise for use on an unknown project. Since then, both groups have worked closely together and have decided to agree to a more durable relationship.

High Voltage chief creative officer Eric Nofsinger spoke of the studio’s desire to work with Audiokinetic in "a more permanent" capacity:

“World class audio is a critical component to creating compelling and competitive games,” he said. “After working with Wwise, it became apparent that working with such a sophisticated and comprehensive cross-platform solution was something that we wanted to continue.”

As part of the new agreement, High Voltage will feed back to Audiokinetic some suggestions and ideas on how to improve and expand Wwise.

“By entrusting Wwise and Audiokinetic with our game audio technology, we can concentrate fully on the games themselves, and the unique, unmatched experience that we want to deliver to gamers,” said High Voltage audio director Michael Metz.

André Nadeau, the CEO of the Montreal-based Audiokinetic, also praised the deal.

“It has always been a priority for us to be creative and to understand our users’ need to better fulfill them – be it about technology or business,” he said.