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10 Game Sound Effects – Download Free Now
Ever since there’s been gaming, there’ve been gaming sound effects! Even the simple graphics of the early Pong were accompanied by simple sound generation to match. And as games got more sophisticated, their game audio and game sound effects increased in quality to match.
On this page, we’re giving away free game sound effects, showing you how you can make your own gaming sounds for free, and offering inspiration with a look at some of our favourite video game sound effects from the games that made them (in)famous!
Download our free audio for games sound pack
Droid.wav
Flying Drone.wav
Hallway Footsteps.wav
Monster Sound.wav
Robo Bug.wav
Running Footsteps.wav
Spaceship Ambience.wav
Spaceship Hover.wav
Swinging Fire.wav
Wind Ambience.wav
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Boost your game sound design output using this pack of 10 royalty-free sound effects, featuring overworld sounds, enemies and monsters, fire, spaceship and wind atmosphere samples in high-quality WAV format.
But Wait! You can create your own custom game SFX for Free using Krotos Studio!
Design your own game sound effects free with Krotos Studio
Generating a city ambience
In Krotos Studio’s Ambiences category, you’ll find the City preset – along with many other interesting audio locations. Here we’ve selected the City Ambience ‘preset’ and can now set the position of the counters to personalise our output sound.
The recording started automatically, and when ready we can press Stop to conclude it. This also lets us watch along with any material we’ve been given to time the sound as we want it. We can also transition between ‘Skyline’ and ‘Traffic’ sources, or blend differently between them – within the same file or by creating a new one.
Once done, we can drag the recording out to our file browser, or our NLE or DAW, depending on your main working environment.
Creating gunshot sounds in Krotos Studio
Another Krotos Studio preset especially relevant to games is the 9mm Pistol. Whether you’re exporting individual sounds or pre-recorded sequences, it’s easy to ‘perform’ and record simply using your mouse as the virtual trigger.
The most iconic video game sound effects from some of our favourite games
Like in the world of film, some video game sounds have transcended their original purpose and become cultural touchstones in their own right. What sort of backwater would we be living in if we couldn’t lay claim to these sounds for the good of humanity?
The ‘Exclamation Mark’ sound from Metal Gear Solid
What was that noise? And come to think of it, whose footprints are these? It’s the thrilling sound of an enemy who got so close they became suspicious, and it’s putting chills down the spine of practically every late 90s Playstation owner. As the ‘out-of-the-blue’, jarring alert sound in a game where stealth is the primary point, this sound has stood the test of time.
Zelda’s ‘Item Get’ or ‘treasure chest’ sound
From the first game, The Legend of Zelda, through the era-defining Ocarina of Time and the more recent Breath of the Wild, the ‘Item Get’ sound has remained pretty consistent! When our protagonist, Link, finds a key item for the game – usually inside a treasure chest – it creates a dopamine hit signalling the player moving forward in their quest. Similarly addictive is the quick audio sting that (usually) accompanies the experience. Nintendo clearly can’t get enough of it, and neither can we!
All the sound effects from Pac-Man
Pac-Man was a pioneering video game for many reasons, not least the music and sound effects that played alongside our favourite part-circle’s various repetitive adventures. From Pac-Man eating to Pac-Man moving, to Pac-Man running away – it has all been seared into the inner ears of a generation of video game lovers, and then passed down as if burnt into their genetic code to subsequent generations. Oh, and last but not least: the iconic Pac-Man death sound that heralds the end of a game.
FAQs
Where can I get sound effects for games?
You can download sound effects for use in video games from a variety of places. Websites like freesound.org are a useful starting point, and companies like Loopmasters can supply loops and effects sounds to musicians. Krotos is a company specialising in sound design for games, and sells sound effects for games as part of sound packs, plugins and their Krotos Studio software.
Is it legal to use sound effects from games?
Almost every part of a game will be subject to copyright, and so shouldn’t be used without the permission of the copyright owner. One could argue that the use of game sound effects for another purpose could be seen as ‘transformative’ to avoid copyright implications, but this cannot be held to be generally true. You should assume that anything bundled with a game as part of it as a ‘product’ is protected by copyright and not suitable for use in any way.
Can you download sound effects for free?
You can download royalty-free sound effects and some completely free sound effects from companies like Krotos. Krotos Studio is a free-to-use program that allows you to create your own completely customised sound effects.
How do I get copyright free audio?
The best way to get copyright-free audio is to create it yourself. If this isn’t a good option, then royalty-free audio (whether paid for or obtained for free) is a good, safe source of usable sounds.