Australia’s premier game audio conference returns this weekend with the sounds of Hollow Knight: Silksong, Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven, Mixtape, Mouse: P.I. For Hire, Saros and more.
High Score opens at ACMI tomorrow, Saturday 3 October, for its landmark 10th edition, bringing leading composers, sound designers, music directors and game audio professionals from Australia and around the world to Melbourne for two days of talks, demonstrations and industry insight.
Presented by the Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO), Music Australia, and APRA/AMCOS, alongside venue partner ACMI, High Score returns as a cornerstone event of Melbourne International Games Week, with a program spanning the creative, technical and commercial realities of contemporary game audio.
Across the weekend, the program gets inside how some of today’s most distinctive games find their sound, while looking at the creative, technical and commercial realities of building a career in game audio: from fair pay and international networks to live recording, new technology and the increasingly independent life of game soundtracks beyond the screen.
BAFTA-nominated Australian composer Christopher Larkin will open the weekend with The Musical Worldbuilding of Hollow Knight: Silksong, unpacking the themes, musical language and collaborations with Australian classical musicians behind one of the year’s most anticipated games. Wilbert Roget, II, whose credits include Helldivers 2, Star Wars: Outlaws, Mortal Kombat 11 and Call of Duty: WWII, will explore his approach to “musical sound design” and sonic recycling, while Duncan Smith, Head of Music at Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe, will take audiences inside the making of the score for Housemarque’s Saros, tracing the journey from first creative brief through recording, implementation and release.
Closer to home, one of the weekend’s most personal sessions, Legacy of the Lamb, brings together the creative community behind Australian phenomenon Cult of the Lamb and its major expansion Woolhaven. Following the passing of composer River Boy during development, Arrowbird, Massive Monster’s JoJo Zhou and members of the wider team will reflect on preserving, celebrating and carrying forward their friend’s creative voice through a score and soundscape described as a “mixtape of his life”.
Australian games are also at the centre of Crafting the Perfect Mixtape, with former Galvatrons frontman turned game developer Johnny Galvatron and producer-composer Josh Abrahams unpacking how songs by artists including Silverchair, Portishead, Joy Division and Iggy Pop sit alongside original composition, mechanics and narrative in Mixtape. PlaySide Studios’ Louis Seccull and Alec Bathman will meanwhile reveal how they created the distinctive cartoon-noir world of Mouse: P.I. For Hire, spanning voice, field recordings, licensed music, cutscenes and the challenge of making a first-person shooter sound powerful without losing its humour.
For those interested in the machinery behind game sound, two FMOD sessions get deep into the technical side of the craft. Aaron Edwards and Mat Dwyer will pull apart the demonic audio landscape of roguelike exorcism deckbuilder Malys, while Jeff van Dyck and Anders Groenningsaeter reveal the synthesiser and “Matrix of Madness” they built inside FMOD to manage the physics-driven audio of Delverium.
The wider program explores the people, pathways and economics shaping the industry. Award-winning Japanese composer and music director Yoko Honda Gaalaas offers a rare look inside the role of a game music director, while the Australian Guild of Screen Composers will launch its new Games Rate Card, providing indicative guidance on composer fees alongside discussion of publishing, master rights and licensing.
Other sessions follow music from the recording studio into virtual worlds; examine how game soundtracks are finding audiences through radio, streaming, Twitch, vinyl and live performance; look at building a game-audio career across Asian markets; and put emerging composers in front of Australian developers for live feedback through Demo Derby.
The milestone edition is the first curated by composer, musician and ABC Classic’s Game Show host Meena Shamaly, with award-winning broadcaster Angharad ‘Rad’ Yeo returning as MC.
Minister for Creative Industries Vicki Ward said:
"The best and brightest minds from across the games industry are converging on Victoria for Melbourne International Games Week. We’re backing our local games industry and supporting homegrown talent to build successful, globally connected careers in gaming right here in Victoria.”
General Manager, VMDO Kirsty Rivers said:
“The VMDO is delighted to produce High Score for its tenth edition. Once again High Score will show just how much opportunity exists at the intersection of music and games. This year’s program brings together extraordinary creative and technical talent while opening up the conversations that help people build sustainable careers and build exciting game worlds: from the stories behind some of the world’s most distinctive game soundtracks to fair pay, international opportunities, new technologies, collaboration and the growing life of game audio beyond the screen.”
High Score 2026 takes place at ACMI, Melbourne on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October as part of Melbourne International Games Week.
For tickets and the full program, head to vmdo.com.au/events/high-score-2026.