The Japanese Capcom integrates Genelec The Ones monitors into its studios

The video game studio Capcom, with titles such as 'Street Fighter', 'Resident Evil' and 'Monster Hunter' in its catalogue, opts for Genelec monitors in a new studio configured in 7.1.4.

Capcom, one of the most famous game developers in the world, with titles like Street Fighter, Resident Evil y Monster Hunter in its catalog, is a reference in the exquisiteness with which it treats audio. At its facilities in Japan, we can find more than 300 Genele monitorsc.

It has recently updated its Studio B, now renamed as Dynamic Mixing Stage and equipped with 7.1.4 surround sound. This installation represents Japan's most prestigious installation to date of the 8331 and 8341 coaxial source monitors from Genelec's The Ones range. Before the redesign, Studio B had Genelec 1031 monitors.

“Our studio work has changed dramatically in the last two years,” explains Kazuya Takimoto, from the sound production department of Capcom's production division. "For our larger game titles we've always inserted short, animated movies called 'cutscenes,' which drive the plot forward. Players watch them instead of playing them, like cutscenes in a movie." "But for Resident Evil 7, which we published last year, we changed the way we did it so that all cutscenes were playable, which meant there were no more cut scenes. Those kinds of still, movie-like productions will appear much less frequently in the future, so we decided that our studio facility should reflect that change, becoming a workspace to handle the overall mix of the game, rather than just those cutscenes as moments. To achieve this, we designed the room layout from scratch and tried to introduce more compact solutions. Finally, we reinvented the studio with a completely new concept,” he adds.

While it may seem like little difference between creating great audio for a cutscene versus a full gameplay experience, for Capcom the change was in part due to streamlining the overall workflow to encourage efficiency. “The difference is whether we work within Pro Tools or in game development engines,” explains Takimoto. “We've been using a lot of middleware recently, like Audiokinetic Wwise, which allows us to mix with a GUI instead of having to import a Pro Tools mix.” However, just as important was the localization of the sound.

"Our goal was to establish a space where we could hear sounds clearly and accurately in 360 degrees. Games are often experienced in this way. For example, sometimes we have to imply that an enemy has moved behind the player, and that becomes more than just ambient sound, it's important information." To achieve their vision, Capcom worked with Sona Corporation on the room's design. “It doesn't mean that we plan to produce titles that support 3D audio,” Takimoto clarifies, “but it is true that the games industry in general pays more attention to 360-degree sound, and that should be reflected in a monitoring system.”

Capcom's Genelec solution is primarily configured for a 7.1.4 environment, with three 8341 monitors employed in left-center-right positions, eight 8331s covering surround areas, and two 7360 subwoofers handling LF content. But the studio is also ready for Dolby Atmos to expand to 9.1.4 channels, and “plus, based on advice from Sona Corporation, the studio can support Auro-3D in 13.1 with relative ease,” says Takimoto. As for the choice of The Ones, Takimoto decided from the start.

ipio that “as it would be a studio with Dolby Atmos / DTS: X support, we had to use coaxial speakers.” We knew the room would be small and believed that coaxial speakers, which have very specific phase characteristics, would be the best option. Then we found out that Genelec was about to release the 8331 and 8341, The Ones, and we knew immediately that they were the ones we needed!” confesses Takimoto.

Furthermore, he describes The Ones' sound as “very clear and easy to listen to.” “It sounds just like I would have imagined,” he concludes.