Foley in Video Games: How Everyday Objects Become Game Sounds

A character’s footsteps, rustling jacket, and clattering equipment help a game world feel physical. Many of those sounds begin with someone performing an action beside a microphone. Foley is the craft of creating and recording physical sounds to match action on screen.

The recording does not always use the object you think you hear. A convincing monster step might begin with an appliance, while a gruesome impact might begin with groceries.

Foley turns movement into a performance

A Foley artist chooses props and movements that give an action the right texture and timing. Berklee describes a craft that combines careful listening, physical coordination, recording, and editing. Shoes, clothing, doors, and small objects can all become useful tools.

The goal is a believable relationship between the picture and the sound. A light touch should not sound like a heavy slam unless the scene calls for that contrast. The person performing the sound can change the force, rhythm, or material until the result fits.

Recorded audio can come from different kinds of work

Foley is one part of sound design. Recording a real place, performing an object sound, and setting up audio inside a game solve different problems.

Kind of work	What it contributes
Foley performance	Physical actions such as footsteps, fabric movement, or handling an object.
Field recording	Sounds captured in a location, such as wildlife or a waterfall.
Playing sounds in the game	Rules that connect recorded sounds to actions and animation during play.

One game can use all three. The source of a sound and the system that plays it are separate parts of the finished result.

The Evil Within found horror in ordinary food

In a September 2014 behind-the-scenes feature, Bethesda’s Matt Grandstaff says he helped Tango Gameworks gather food for The Evil Within’s sound team. The session used cantaloupe and raw beef, along with extra items including noodles, marshmallows, and potato chips.

Sound designer Masahiro Izumi used the ingredients for the game’s unsettling effects. The example shows why the object in a recording room does not need to resemble the thing on screen. A useful crunch or wet texture can become material for something entirely different.

Papo & Yo gave a monster an appliance’s weight

Minority Media’s December 2012 Papo & Yo development feature offers another example: Monster’s running sound came from hitting a refrigerator. Composer and sound designer Brian D’Oliveira and the La Hacienda team also improvised with objects to find sounds that suited the game.

The same account describes a separate field-recording trip to the Amazon rainforest, where D’Oliveira captured wildlife and waterfalls. Those recordings supplied a sense of place, while the object performances supplied sounds for particular actions.

Games need the recording to follow the player

A finished recording still needs a way to play at the right moment. Players can stop, turn, or change pace, so a gameplay sound cannot always follow one fixed timeline.

Epic’s Unreal Engine documentation describes Animation Notifies: events placed within an animation that can trigger sounds. Sound Notifies can synchronize footsteps and clothing movement with the animated action.

Think of a foot touching the ground. The recording supplies the sound, and the animation event supplies the cue to play it. A good recording and accurate timing both matter; one cannot replace the other.

Listen for the small actions next time you play

Choose a quiet moment in a familiar game and pay attention to movement:

• Listen for the sound that lands when a character’s foot meets the floor.
• Notice whether clothing or carried equipment adds another layer as the character moves.
• Compare a small interaction with a forceful one, such as handling an object versus dropping it.

We find those details especially interesting because they can pass unnoticed while still shaping how an action feels. Listen for what gives an object weight, then imagine which ordinary prop could have made that sound.

Image Credit: Tango Gameworks / Bethesda Softworks, The Evil Within official press image via Xbox Wire