My name is Noah Kankanala. I am a sound designer who loves all things sound, story, and games. I am currently an Associate Audio Designer at Skydance Interactive working on Skydance’s Behemoth. I have been At Skydance Interactive for two years, and worked on The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution. Before joining Skydance Interactive, I was an Audio Design Intern at Obsidian Entertainment, working on Avowed for about six months. I hold a Masters in Entertainment Technology from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in Game Design from Indiana University.

As an audio designer, I enjoy thinking about audio as systems and considering how spatiality and sound propogation can be leveraged to achieve an interesting audio experience that is not only beautiful, but also believable. I view sound integration and implementation as creative endeavors that are as crucial to the audio pipeline as the actual creation and design of sounds, and get great satisfaction from using states, RTPCs, and switches to drive dynamic audio that adapts to player input. My time at Skydance Interactive and working in the VR space has illustrated to me the importance of leveraging a culmination of both player experience (aesthetic/thematic) pillars and mechanical-related (technical) pillars such as 360 degree audio, kinesthic input, and physics systems, in order to create an audio experience that supports both the aesthetic and technical aspects of the player experience. One of my favorite audio domains to work in is ambience systems and design. I love the feeling of being enveloped in a world, and experiencing audio as a form of environmental storytelling that conveys and communicates the story of places, characters, and timelines. It is my goal to contribute to experiences that can produce this great feeling of immersion for players.