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March 9-13, 2026
Moscone CenterSan Francisco, CA

Agenda

Audio Optimization Microtalks

Colin Walder  (Engineering Director, CD PROJEKT RED)
Guy Somberg  (Principal Audio Programmer, Blizzard)
David Su  (Senior Dialogue Designer, Naughty Dog)
Location: Room 2003, West Hall
Date: Wednesday, March 11
Time: 1:50 pm - 2:50 pm
Pass Type: Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass - Get your pass now!
Audience Level: Intermediate
Track: Audio
Format: Microtalks
Vault Recording: Video
Audience Level: Intermediate

In this microtalks session, several practical techniques taken from real-life game audio optimization are presented with a focus on step-by-step application.

Colin Walder: Optimizing Cyberpunk 2077 Audio for Switch 2
Attendees will learn how to use the Wwise CPU profiler to investigate audio performance, using real life cases taken from the port of Cyberpunk 2077 to Nintendo Switch 2.

David Su: Managing Object Counts
Attendees will learn about different audio performance management techniques and tradeoffs, including reducing audio object counts and processing, using a scenario from Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver as a case study.

Guy Someberg: Applied SIMD
Attendees will learn a relatively simple recipe they can apply to problems to evaluate whether SIMD will help, then apply SIMD instructions to get 4x, 8x, or 16x performance improvements on applicable code.

Takeaway

Attendees will learn step-by-step approaches to practical audio optimization techniques taken from real-life scenarios, including applying SIMD, using the Wwise profiler, and managing audio object counts.

Intended Audience

This talk is ideal for audio programmers of any level who wish to deepen their knowledge of audio optimization tools and techniques, and also to programmers who do not specialize in the discipline but who would like to take an active role in optimizing audio of their games.