A simple, cartoonish, white angelic character in flowing garments swirls around an upside-down, cute, black, perhaps hooded character also in flowing garments. Together, they resemble a taijitu, or yin and yang symbol. They are set on a black background with three shooting stars swirling around the characters. Above the characters reads “Hauntii”.

Hauntii

An Indie Game with a Hollywood Soundtrack? YES!!

UPDATE: Hauntii nominated for 4 Game Audio Network Guild Awards.

Some of the most interesting and creative projects don’t have big studio resources. The independent video game “Hauntii” is one such project. Composer Michael Kirby Ward, developer Moonloop Games, and publisher Firestoke, assumed that Hauntii’s limited, indie-game budget meant their only option was to record the game’s song in Eastern Europe. Nonetheless, Ward contacted SoS to see if there were any options available for recording in the USA.

Examining the project, we realized that with some creative orchestration and careful planning, it would be possible to access Hollywood talent and elevate the music beyond expectations. Furthermore, we could record both the song and the soundtrack’s most important cues. Making this happen would be a challenge, but the talent available in Los Angeles would mean we could work quickly with a smaller ensemble to achieve very high quality within their budget.

Danita Ng-Poss and Jason Poss worked closely with Michael Ward to develop a strategy for orchestrating and recording. SoS handled all orchestration and music preparation, secured the recording studio, hired the musicians, processed union contracts, and coordinated payroll. The project was completed on time and within the tight budget.

Hauntii is now a rare indie game boasting a soundtrack with A-list Hollywood musicians. The results were so successful that, on some cues, the original samples were completely replaced by the live recordings; even though it was a smaller ensemble.

The video above shows a bit of the recording session with composer Michael Ward singing the song “Home to Home”.

For us at SoS, it was delightful to work with Ward on a contemplative soundtrack to compliment Hauntii’s unique artwork, gentle atmosphere, and more relaxed, thoughtful gameplay. This is far from the bombast of many game soundtracks.

Hauntii is available on PC, Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Hauntii’s soundtrack is also available on Steam.