Ninja Theory's binaural audio craft brings Hellblade II's psychosis to life
Summary
Ninja Theory principal sound designer Daniele Galante detailed Hellblade II's audio design at GDC 2025
The studio expanded its binaural audio approach from the original Hellblade to create a deeper, more immersive portrayal of psychosis
Actors physically moved around a Neumann KU 100 Binaural Dummy Head mic, using body language as a performance tool
The Tyrant boss battle combined six voice actors processed through 3D audio to create an all-consuming, traumatic confrontation
"Using binaural audio was an obvious choice because we want to reproduce these voices around the player to get them within this experience"
01
Binaural audio as a tool for depicting auditory hallucinations
Ninja Theory built on the original Hellblade's binaural audio innovation, which recreates sound within a 3D space
The studio's goal was to accurately represent how people with psychosis hear voices - not inside the head, but around them
Actors playing the Furies physically moved around the Neumann KU 100 Binaural Dummy Head mic, treating it as Senua and the player
This approach unlocked body language as a performance tool, which standard mic setups deny actors
Theater-trained actors were found to adapt especially well to this format
"Many people think that you hear auditory hallucinations inside your head, but that's not accurate"
02
Non-verbal voice capture adds psychological unease
Galante treated binaural recordings as acoustic instruments, shaped further in post-production using VST tools
Non-verbal voice capture - any non-dialogue sound an actor can produce - was used to generate unsettling, eerie audio layers
Actor Edward Spence provided both dialogue and non-verbal sounds for a sunken cave sequence filled with voices of the dead
"Any possible noise you can make with your mouth is there because we want to be experimental and take it to the player's brain and make them feel uncomfortable"
03
The Tyrant battle - six voices, one oppressive presence
The game's most emotionally charged boss battle - Senua confronting her abusive father - required a multi-layered audio design
Six voice actors were combined and spatialized through 3D audio to create the Tyrant's overwhelming, all-consuming voice
A key lesson learned: unclear creative vision early in production forced costly rework of already-recorded 3D audio
Because 3D audio is locked spatially once recorded, adjustments required duplicating, inverting, and manually reworking tracks
"One mistake I made came early because the rest of the team didn't have a specific vision for what the fight would be like"
04
Challenges and costs of binaural audio production
Binaural audio is time-consuming and demands extensive post-production to work reliably for general audiences
Creative documentation and best practices for binaural audio are scarce - most existing knowledge is scientific, not production-focused
Ninja Theory's learnings came primarily from trial and error, making the process costly when mistakes occurred
Headphones remain the recommended way to fully experience the spatial audio design
05
Outlook - binaural audio as an underexplored creative frontier
Galante expressed hope that more developers will experiment with binaural audio in games
Ninja Theory positions its GDC knowledge-sharing as a practical starting point for studios considering 3D audio
As the creative field lacks established standards, early adopters who invest now stand to differentiate on immersion and narrative depth
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