The sound of Saros: Building an audio identity for Carcosa

When we started working on Saros, we knew we had an interesting challenge ahead of us. We had established a very distinctive audio identity with Returnal, and Housemarque gave us a clear direction from the beginning: “Refinement, not Reinvention.”

That became a useful principle throughout development. We carried forward our gameplay-first approach, our emphasis on strong and satisfying player feedback, our immersive soundscape, and our ambition to showcase PS5 features such as Tempest 3D Audio and DualSense haptics.

At the same time, Saros is a brand-new IP with its own characters, story and tone. Every piece of audio content needed to feel unique and help establish the world of Carcosa.

Finding the sound of Carcosa

Very early on, we started looking for elements that could define Saros sonically. The Eclipse became one of our first creative anchors.

It is central to the world and story of the hostile planet, so we began experimenting with its sound identity. One of our most useful discoveries came from a didgeridoo recording session in our studio. With creative processing, the recordings felt epic and became incredibly versatile. With further manipulation, they could even begin to sound like a deep voice.

This eventually became the foundation for the Yellow King’s vocalisations and helped define the wider Saros sound palette, emphasising the influence of the Eclipse, the Yellow King and the Corruption throughout the game.

The cinematic announcement trailer, which was the first presentation of Saros to the public, became an opportunity to showcase these creative explorations, featuring the didgeridoo source alongside many other sounds.

The idea of recording something and transforming it into something unusual became important across the entire soundscape. We combined grounded recordings with heavily processed and abstract elements, crafting sounds that could feel familiar yet alien.

Some sounds came from very unexpected places. The first enemy players encounter, an evil mechanical drone, is built partly from processed floppy disk recordings. The ocean in the Yellow Shore was created from recordings of marinated chicken, frying chicken and walnuts being moved around a bowl. Sound design is often about hearing the potential in something that was never intended to sound like what you need.

Sam Slater’s score also brings its own powerful vocabulary to Carcosa, combining distorted voices, synthesis, guitars and darker experimental textures. Our aim was to allow Music and Sound Design to blend and complement each other, helping the Corruption feel like an overwhelming force that had spread throughout the entire world.

Designing a world where every sound has a purpose

A major part of the sound design was making sure that the varied parts of Carcosa had their own identity, while still feeling connected to the same world. We wanted players to be able to understand what was happening around them through sound, even when the screen was full of visual information.

Enemy vocalisations were designed to be fast, tonal and memorable, particularly for attacks that players need to recognise quickly enough to dodge or absorb with the shield.

We created distinct sonic families for organic, mechanical and cosmic enemies.

Audio clip of the game’s organic enemies.

Audio clip of the game’s mechanical enemies.

Audio clip of the game’s cosmic enemies.

The cosmic enemies, in particular, needed to feel connected to the divine influence of the Yellow King, with a sound that could be both menacing and beautiful. Mongolian throat singing became part of their core vocal foundation, while higher vocal elements came from singers and instruments such as the shakuhachi, adding a more beautiful quality.

Projectiles were treated with the same level of care. Normal, Corrupted and Nova projectiles each have their own palette. Blue projectiles use electric and liquid textures, yellow Corrupted projectiles draw from the didgeridoo-based Corruption language, and red projectiles use more tonal material derived from processed human screams.

These details may be subtle individually, but together they make the world feel coherent and help players read intense combat. 

In contrast to other studios, Housemarque’s titles are recognised for replayability through mastery, with bullet-hell spectacle of hundreds of projectiles filling the screen. We developed several layers of prioritisation so the most important sounds remain audible without simply silencing everything else.

Enemies are prioritised according to factors such as their threat level, distance, visibility and combat state. Their audio is then organised into different levels of prominence, allowing us to carefully manage how many sounds are competing for the player’s attention. Projectiles use a similar approach, grouping them according to their type and proximity so that the game can communicate the most important information without overwhelming the player. The result is a dense mix that can still communicate what matters most.

Putting the PS5 at the centre of the experience

Building on our experience with Returnal, we wanted Saros to push 3D Audio and Haptics further while also delivering the most immersive audio experience through Dolby Atmos.

In a game this demanding, 3D Audio is not only about immersion. It is another source of gameplay information. Enemies and projectiles can approach from above, below, behind or outside the screen, and accurate positioning can make a real difference during combat.

Our process goes far beyond simply activating Tempest on positional content. Every small detail, from a leaf moving in the wind to an enemy attacking from behind, is carefully designed, implemented, positioned and mixed with 3D Audio in mind. Different content uses different spatial approaches, allowing us to create complex scenes while maintaining clarity and control.

The 3D Audio implementation in Saros aims for uncompromised audio quality and spatial precision, both in environmental audio and in combat.

Saros also showcases PS Acoustics, a technology developed by Audio Tools and Tech team. Using raytracing, it calculates reverberation and reflections in real time, alongside obstruction and occlusion.

Players can hear the sounds and voices of Arjun, enemies and the Echelon IV crew being reflected from nearby walls, with the effect responding to the absorption properties of the materials. While the reflections can be subtle acoustic details, the reverberations are much more obvious. For example, the Passage has a strong acoustic tone and depth that matches the unique shape and construction of the environment.

Instead of relying entirely on predetermined acoustic behaviour, this technology makes spaces feel believable and responsive, all within the 3D Audio environment.

We also wanted to deliver Saros as a standout experience in Dolby Atmos, taking advantage of the game’s extensive verticality and positional information. Throughout development, Saros was regularly mixed in Atmos, and we made sure that the work put into the 3D Audio presentation translated effectively to speakers. This ranges from conveying the scale of the most epic boss fights to subtle moments, such as a flock of birds flying overhead.

Towards the end of production, we chose to complete the final mix at the iconic Abbey Road Studios. This gave our teams and Housemarque’s Creative Director an exceptional environment in which to experience, refine and finalise the audio for players.

Designing sound and haptics together

The same uncompromising philosophy applied to DualSense Haptics.

Sound and haptics were designed closely together from the beginning of development, for each feature, as part of the same sensory experience. They work together to convey weight, intensity and nuance.

One example of meaningful subtlety is the bullet-based weapons. As ammunition runs low, the haptic frequency changes, giving the player another subtle indication of their weapon state without requiring them to look away from the action.

These details are deliberately small, but in a game where so much is happening at once, they can provide valuable information without adding another visual element to the screen.

Weapon behaviour, physical interactions, combat feedback and key narrative moments are communicated not only through what players hear, but through what they feel in the DualSense wireless controller.

That combination of bold Sound and Music design, state-of-the-art 3D Audio, Dolby Atmos and Haptics design and implementation approach defines the audio vision for Saros.

Giving players more control over the experience

Another major goal was to create an audio experience that players could tailor to their own preferences, needs and listening environment.

From the early stages of development, we collaborated closely with the PlayStation Accessibility Team to establish a set of essential features that should be present across the wider game portfolio, while also developing functionality specifically suited to Saros.

Players can make dialogue louder or progressively clearer through the Dialogue Priority setting, customise the volume of sound effects, and reduce high-pitched ringing.

Music can be adjusted independently for combat and exploration, while Bass and Treble controls offer quick tuning for different headphones or speakers.

The Dynamic Range settings offer a high level of customisation, allowing players to calibrate the soundscape to suit their own gaming environment.

These options were developed alongside PlayStation accessibility standards and considered throughout production, rather than being added at the end.

Ultimately, that attention to detail reflects the philosophy behind the entire audio experience in Saros.

Whether it is an unusual creature vocalisation, the sensation of a weapon through the controller, a reflection moving through a space, or an option helping someone hear dialogue more clearly, every detail was designed to contribute meaningfully.

Our goal was to create an experience that feels bold, original and unmistakably Saros, while using the unique capabilities of PS5 to make Carcosa as immersive, responsive and accessible to players as possible.