Alex Previty, the sound design lead on God of War: Ragnarok, revealed that the heartbeat of a baby still in the womb was used to create the eerie sounds that are heard when players visit The Spark of the World. Does this make the baby the world’s youngest game developer?

The news comes from X/Twitter, where one user uploaded a clip of them playing Ragnarok and explained how much they love the noises that are made when they visit the area. Shortly after this tweet was published, Previty explained that the noise the studio used for The Spark of the World was the sound of their daughter’s heartbeat when she was in the womb. And it was recorded using a “3.5mm output from a babadoppler”.

This is one of my favorite sounds I made for the game! The heartbeat sound is actually my daughter's heartbeat while she was still in the womb – I recorded it via the 3.5mm output of a baby doppler. The longer tonal elements are from a children's choir warming up in a gymnasium! https://t.co/9PV8iPpzhP

— Alex Previty (@alexprevity) December 27, 2023

It is also worth pointing out that the noise heard by the players is not just the baby’s heartbeat. In fact, in addition to hearing it, there’s even an edited children’s choir playing over the top. The same tweet explains that “the longer sounding elements are from a children’s choir warming up in a gym”.

In a follow-up tweet, Previty gave further insight into how the sound effects were created, sharing how the noises sounded before and after the effects were implemented. To capture the right sound, Previty revealed that they slowed down the baby’s heartbeat to help get the right tempo and make it sound bigger.

Source: Gamesradar