[From the industry] Keywords Studios Announces Upgrade and Expansion to the Largest Video Games Audio and Post Production Centre in Italy

This is a press release posted in addition to our usual editorial content.

Keywords Studios, the international technical and creative services provider to the global video games industry and beyond, today announces the upgrade and expansion of its leading audio and post-production facility in Milan, Italy.

With an unrivalled pedigree and proven track record established over the course of 20-plus years, the Milan studio is a key player in Italy’s gaming industry, having handled audio and post production for a range of games – from cult indie titles to the best-known AAA+ franchises – across all genres.

The studio has been improved with state-of-the-art technology and expanded – thanks to the recent addition of Jinglebell to the Keywords Studios family – to cater for increased publisher and developer demand in Italy.

Milan is one of the main hubs for Keywords’ audio localization services, focused on centralising management and post-production for multilingual projects. The expansion represents the company’s vision to allow client partners access to a global network of dedicated audio studios through a single, local point of contact.

With a combination of the improved capabilities and those from renowned audio production studio, Jinglebell, the resulted is the creation of the largest video games audio-dedicated hub in Italy, featuring:

• Eight recording booths
• Newly-built 16m2 room
• 12 post-production rooms
• Dedicated audio servers for added security
• 5.1 recording and mixing capabilities

Keywords Studios in Milan now offers eight recording booths with different capacities to cater for increased demand for creative approaches to game development.

A newly-built 16m2 room has variable acoustics which allows engineers to control reverberation, to recreate the acoustic qualities of an open field, an abandoned mansion or other spaces, at will. With these additions, the studio offers advanced creative audio services on top of the existing multi-language recording and audio post-production offering, in more than 50 languages.

The centre now has 12 post-production rooms, in which engineers centralize and harmonize the output of audio recordings done in other sites.

Dedicated audio servers have been optimized for recording and post-production needs and act in a separate network, for added security.

This interconnection makes a couple of control rooms configurable to record from two booths simultaneously, adding further flexibility to the offer.

The centre also counts with 5.1 recording and mixing capabilities to meet increasing demand given the rise of cinema-like home setups in the public’s homes.

“With the video games industry representing the pinnacle of interactive digital content, we are continuously developing our global services to be the go-to provider,” said Fulvio Sioli, Regional Managing Director, Europe, for Keywords Studios.

“Managing the entire audio localization process, from voice actor casting and recording to mixing, processing and post-recording quality checks, allows our client partners to focus on the creativity that makes their games great.

“Upgrading and expanding the Milan studio is a key step in continuing to offer the best of the best for these publishers and developers.”

The Milan studio’s focus has been shifting towards mobile gaming in recent years, as the platform has been growing in popularity.

With the recent renovation and upgrade, the studio will be able to provide additional audio services to mobile gaming development, including casting, script translation and adaptation, recording, voice direction, post-production (editing, mixing, SFX, mastering) and quality assurance.