Agenda
Listening to Your Game
David Pritchett (Principal Designer, Electronic Arts)
Mathew Savage (Senior Audio Artist (Speech Lead), Electronic Arts)
Pass Type:
Academic Pass, Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass, Indie Pass, Start-Up Pass -
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Track:
Audio, Narrative & Performance
Audience Level:
All
Format:
Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
This session explores the evolution of audio commentary in EA SPORTS™ NHL over the past year, documenting the transition from a traditional, legacy production pipeline to an AI-native one. It examines the technical, creative, and production challenges involved in using AI at scale without compromising the authenticity and quality expected of broadcast talent.
Throughout that transformation, one principle remains constant: AI is only valuable if the result meets the same creative bar as traditionally produced content. The session explores what it takes to build toward that standard while simultaneously shipping a game, how new tools reshape established production workflows, and how the bottlenecks move once content creation itself is no longer the primary constraint. Attendees will see both what AI unlocks and the new quality, production, and scalability challenges it creates.
Throughout that transformation, one principle remains constant: AI is only valuable if the result meets the same creative bar as traditionally produced content. The session explores what it takes to build toward that standard while simultaneously shipping a game, how new tools reshape established production workflows, and how the bottlenecks move once content creation itself is no longer the primary constraint. Attendees will see both what AI unlocks and the new quality, production, and scalability challenges it creates.
Takeaway
Attendees learn what it takes to ship AI-generated commentary without lowering the creative quality bar. The session examines practical approaches to talent authenticity, human oversight, scalable generation and QA, and the new production and cost challenges that emerge when generating content is no longer the primary limitation.
Intended Audience
This session is intended for producers, audio professionals, technical designers, engineers, and creative leaders exploring how AI can be integrated into high-quality game development. No specialized AI expertise is required, though familiarity with game production pipelines, content creation, or live development environments is beneficial.