Game Audio Sound Design at Codemasters Chris Jojo Senior Sound Designer at Codemasters Software talks to us about the unique and demanding fieldcraft of vehicle recording, shedding light on his work in the games industry and the methods behind sound capture for acclaimed rallying title DiRT4.
Chris Jojo Senior Sound Designer | Codemasters
Web site
Tell us a bit about yourself and your work as a sound designer in the games industry. I'm Senior Sound Designer and Principal Sound Recording Engineer at Codemasters Software Ltd: a BAFTA-Award-winning developer of next-gen console games specialising in motorsports titles such as Formula 1, GRID, Micro Machines and DiRT Rally.
I've been working in game audio production for the past 22 years. Prior to this, I worked in film and television post-production. My work has encompassed field and foley recording, sound design, music composition and production, IR authoring and surround mixing.
I'm very fortunate to have worked alongside many talented people and to have been involved in a variety of projects across a diverse range of gaming genres. With the exponential advancement in game platform audio capabilities and associated tech, each new console generation presents a fresh host of challenges, calling for new kinds of learning and a greater appreciation of the ongoing process of sound design (integral to which is the recording of source audio assets).
As a long-standing user of Rycote products, it's a pleasure to be able to talk about my work here alongside renowned industry professionals.
My interest in sound recording and my awareness of sound design was initially sparked way back in the summer of 1977, when as a wide eyed nine-year-old I witnessed Star Wars for the first time.
How did you start out in sound? My interest in sound recording and my awareness of sound design was initially sparked way back in the summer of 1977, when as a wide eyed nine-year-old I witnessed Star Wars for the first time in a packed-out Odeon cinema in Manchester. I was completely awestruck: utterly captivated by the sensory spectacle unfolding before my eyes and resounding in my ears.
It was sound editor/recordist Ben Burtt's innovative work on the film, his subsequent output with Skywalker Sound and the inspiring work of contemporaries such as Frank Serafine, Randy Thom, Gary Rydstrom and Walter Murch that set me on a path of discovery which ultimately lead to a career in the games industry as a sound designer.
My first steps working in professional audio came about while I was still at college. I'd taken a course in Sound Engineering and Music Production, and through my involvement with fellow students most of whom were musicians I became involved in engineering sessions for bands around a few local recording studios, as well as producing my own music. It proved an invaluable practical experience; I was able to apply what I'd learnt and experiment with microphone set-ups, processing and production techniques whilst also benefitting from the mentorship of the studios' resident engineers.
From college, I went on to study at Manchester University of Art and Design, graduating with a BA in Design for Communications Media. After a brief stint with Palace Pictures working as a storyboard artist for film producer Joanne Seller, I landed a job at a film and television post-production company based in Hong Kong.
It was during this time that I became aware of the burgeoning computer games industry: the 4th generation of 16-bit games platforms driven by Nintendo, Sega and NEC were becoming hugely popular worldwide with software development studios starting to emerge in the UK. I'd bought a Super Nintendo (Famicom) console while in Hong Kong, and I quickly became an avid gamer and fan of the creative talent responsible for some of my favourite titles. (Most notably, game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and sound designer/composer Koji Kondo.)
The notion of working as a sound designer and composer in such a creative, fledgling industry really appealed to me. By pure serendipity, I was contacted out of the blue by a friend from my college days who was working for the UK-based games developer Software Creations, enquiring if I was interested in such a role. Needless to say, I accepted. Some 10 platform generations later, it's the industry I'm still working in and passionate about.
What are you up to at the moment? Any exciting projects in the pipeline for Codemasters? We recently completed work on DiRT4: Codemasters' latest release in the DiRT canon of award-winning, off-road motor racing games. Following off the back of the PC-only, early access DiRT Rally, it's the company's purest expression of a rally simulation to date and a project I'm extremely proud of. My fellow audio team members and I consider it to be amongst the best sounding titles in Codemasters' canon.
DiRT4 marked a significant departure from Codemasters' previous releases in terms of its developmental approach in conveying a more realistic simulation of off-road racing. It's somewhat leaner in scope than its predecessors, delivering a far more focused and authentic representation of rallying. In the game, the player attempts to master the minutiae of motorsports driving, with constant input and concentration required in order to clear a car across some very challenging, iconic rally stages and rallycross circuits.
The shift towards a more realistic sounding game was a boon for the audio team. We were all in agreement that we wanted to distance ourselves from an over-stylised, hyper-real Hollywood' approach (a style co-opted by many racing titles on the market) in favor of a more natural sounding, accurate representation of the rally experience, preserving both dynamics and headroom at output.
Pivotal to DiRT4
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
Latino Film Institute Fellows Screen Their Short Films at the Egyptian Theatre
The Inclusion Fellowship and Spark Animation Grant uplifts 15 ...
29/05/2026
GLOOKAST LAUNCHES CINNAFILM TACHYON PLUGIN FOR MEDIA PRODUCER AND MEDIA SERVICES
This release first appeared here.
Visit our Tachyon product page or contact...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
Game Audio Sound Design at Codemasters Chris Jojo Senior Sound Designer at Codemasters Software talks to us about the unique and demanding fieldcraft of vehicle recording, shedding light on his work in the games industry and the methods behind sound capture for acclaimed rallying title DiRT4.
