It took a whole lot of smashing stuff in a basement to make Monster Hunter World: Iceborne's sound effects

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There were also drills and wind chimes and bricks.

I imagine that actual ice dragons charge hefty sums for their voice acting talent, so the sound designers for Monster Hunter World: Iceborne have taken a more practical approach to creating sound effects for the frigid beasts in the upcoming expansion. 

In an on-site interview with Game Informer that you can watch in the video above, Capcom's audio leads show off their spooky basement studio where they're able to record monster noises in peace. 

Sound designer Wakana Kuroiwa demonstrates several different techniques for creating icy monster sounds and snowy footfall effects. The team takes turns hitting big ol' blocks of ice with a big ol' hammer to create an icy-sounding impact noise. (Skip to the three minute mark for ice violence.) Even before the audio gets processed digitally, it does sound a bit like something you would expect to hear in a game. 

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

(Image credit: Game Informer)

A box full of cornstarch sounds like snowy footsteps when you knead it with your hands, somehow. There are also wind chimes? And a drill? It seems like in an audio studio even the literal kitchen sink might get used for something. 

After the hands-on section is complete, the team heads back to the studio to edit the recordings from the studio. Sound designers will change the pitch of recordings or slow them down before layering sounds together to create the effects we'll eventually hear in Iceborne. 

Monster Hunter World: Iceborne is coming to consoles in September with Capcom targeting winter of 2019 for us PC players. 

Lauren Morton
Lauren Morton
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Lauren has been writing for PC Gamer since she went hunting for the cryptid Dark Souls fashion police in 2017. She joined the PCG staff in 2021, now serving as self-appointed chief cozy games and farmlife sim enjoyer. Her career originally began in game development and she remains fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long fantasy books, longer RPGs, can't stop playing co-op survival crafting games, and has spent a number of hours she refuses to count building houses in The Sims games for over 20 years.