Best AI video game sound effect generators (2024)

AI technology is transforming the gaming industry, especially when it comes to creating sound effects. Sophisticated AI models are empowering sound designers and game developers, streamlining the development process, and offering a more efficient and innovative approach to video game sound effect generation.

This article delves into the leading AI tools in sound effect creation, explaining their pros, cons, and how much they cost. If you’re looking to produce high-quality sound effects with AI, then you’ve come to the right place.

The top 6 AI video game sound effects generators

1. MyEdit AI sound effect generator

Users enter up to 800 words to describe the sound effect they’re after, and the system generates multiple preview sounds in seconds. Sound effects created can be saved as any MP3 / WAV / M4A file, ensuring compatibility with your project.

Pros

• Online model: This text-to-sound model runs online, requiring no clunky downloads
• Customization: Offering the user such a large framework for description (800 words!) means you can be as specific and descriptive as you like, resulting in ultra-specialized sounds
• Speed: The system is quick, generating sounds to choose from in only seconds
• User-friendliness: It’s very intuitive to use, meaning the model is suitable for emerging game developers

Cons

• Distorted sound: The MyEdit model is still in the early beta phase of development - this means the generator creates sounds that are often distorted or hollow-sounding

Pricing

MyEdit’s trial version allows 15 free sound generations per day. Subscriptions range from $4-$7 per month, depending on the features you need.

2. ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs recently revealed a new Text-to-Sound model that promises instantaneous AI-generated sound effects. The user describes the sound effect in a text prompt, and the model uses an algorithm trained on an extensive library of effects to intelligently generate several samples that fit the prompt given.

Pros

• Unlimited creativity: A descriptive text-to-sound model means the only limit on the sound effects in your video game is your creativity
• Expertly designed: ElevenLabs boasts an ever-growing suite of AI tools. The cutting-edge sound effect generator is informed by years of research and development
• Royalty-free sound: As opposed to typical sound effects, all ElevenLabs sound effects are royalty-free and ready for use in commercial projects - like the next big video game
• Speed: The ElevenLabs tool will be capable of instantaneous sound generation, offering game developers an unprecedentedly streamlined creative process
• Free to try: When released, the model will be included in the free 10 minutes of audio content generation offered by ElevenLabs to all new users

Cons

• The ElevenLabs Sound Effect Generator is still in development, and we don’t know its full capabilities yet. 
• However, given the promising sample of the model’s capabilities, and the 11k+ people on the waitlist, we can imagine they will be pretty impressive.

Grab your spot on the waitlist!

Pricing

It’s totally free to use ElevenLabs’ suite of AI audio tools to generate up to 10 minutes of audio per month. The most popular ‘Creator’ package offers 2 hours of content for $11/month. To go Pro, it’s $99/month.

3. Plugger AI sound effect generator

Plugger AI is a familiar name to those clued in to the AI market. Their sound effect generator uses algorithmic deep-learning techniques to interpret text descriptions and generate unique sound effects. Plugger AI offers an impressive range of features guaranteed to spark creativity—from a random sound effect generator to fine-tuning tools that can alter intensity, duration, and pitch.

Pros

• Range of features: The random sound effect generator creates sound effects totally unique to each user at the push of a button, allowing creators to be pleasantly surprised by the world of directions their projects can take. 
• Fine-tuning capability: Once the generator has produced a sound based on a text prompt, you can perfect the sound by adapting its intensity, pitch, and duration to your specific vision, offering a uniquely specialized output. 
• High-quality generation: Sound effects are generated instantly, and in an impressively high-quality format, opening the door to use the effects on projects of any size and scope.
• Versatility: Plugger AI’s sound effect generator is more versatile than other models, because of the comprehensiveness of the sound libraries used to train the algorithm.

Cons

• Inaccuracy: Users report that Plugger AI’s sound generator often produces an inaccurate output. 
• Labor intensiveness: The model needs to be fed a very descriptive, specific text, increasing the labor burden on the user.

Pricing

Plugger AI offers free, unlimited use of their sound effect generator tool. However, some advanced features and premium packs are only available to subscribers. A subscription starts at $19/month.

4. Unlimited SFX

Unlimited SFX is an ‘AI Sound Copilot’ developed by Waanda. This model stands out in its ability to generate sound effects from video input. The model offers an ‘all-in-one’ SFX generator for game developers: you upload a video of game footage directly and the AI will instantly create all the sound effects that will bring your game to life.

Pros

• Scope: Unlimited royalty-free sound effects
• Video input: rather than having to create a time-consuming text description, you can simply upload a short clip, and have the model do all the thinking
• Gaming specific: Waanda’s AI sound copilot was designed specifically with game development in mind. The model is trained to tailor effects to a specific game and can generate a bunch of sound effects at once. This is ideal for streamlining the development process.
• Customization: This software offers good control and customization features, ensuring each sound is a perfect fit for its context.

Cons

• No Previews: Other software offers sound previews, so you can make sure a sound is perfect before downloading it, however, AI Sound Co-Pilot does not have this capacity
• No saving preferences: The model won’t remember your input between projects, meaning you have to take the time to re-enter information about your game each time the model is used
• Unsuitable effects: Because the software depends on accurate user input, the system can make errors, generating effects that don’t align with their intended use

Pricing

Unlimited SFX isn’t yet available for paid use. To request early access, prospective users can join the waitlist on Discord.

5. AudioGen AI from Meta

AudioGen AI is the new sound effect generation tool from social media giant Meta. Similar to their MusicGen tool, which generates music samples based on text descriptions, Meta is developing AudioGen to produce simple sound effects via a text-to-audio model.

Pros

• Free options: Users will be able to generate 100 free sound effects per month, which is more generous than other free trials. However, these generations will be classed as ‘low priority’
• No software download: The model runs entirely online, so doesn’t take up valuable storage space 
• Open source: The model’s source code is freely available, allowing possibilities for redistribution and modifications
• High-quality audio compression: unlike most models, AudioGen AI will use EnCodec - a high-fidelity audio compression tool. Sounds generated by Meta’s Audiocraft suite support stereophonic audio at 48kHz, meaning higher quality sound effects with fewer audio artifacts. 

Cons

• User limits: The free model is limited to 100 generations per month
• Unfriendly to new users: Meta’s suite of AI audio tools has a commercial target audience, meaning they’re not as intuitive for individual users
• Simple sound effects: Sound effects aren't as specialized or wide-ranging as other platforms trained on more comprehensive game-specific libraries
• Only text input: Unlike other models [LINK], AudioGen AI only works with text-based input, and can’t yet respond to video content

Pricing

For creators, Meta recommends AudioGen Plus. This subscription model gives you 1000 high-priority generations per month, along with a commercial license, for $5 per month.

6. Bark AI text-to-audio

Bark AI, created by Suno, offers a range of TTS tools - from text-prompted generative audio to voice cloning. Primarily focusing on realistic speech, the model is evolving to generate background noise and simple sound effects.

Pros

• It’s free: Bark is completely free, as well as fully open-source
• Generalization: The GPT-style model uses high-level semantic tokens, meaning the software can generalize beyond its training data. This opens up new possibilities for sound effect generation
• Intuitiveness: Bark is an easy-to-use platform for individuals and professionals
• Quality: Like their voice cloning output, sound effects created from scratch using Bark AI are high-quality, ready to be put to use in new games

Cons

• Not specialized: While Bark AI offers a sound effect generation tool, the focus of the developers is heavily weighted towards generating speech, meaning it’s not the most specialized choice and has a limited capacity for sound effect generation.

Pricing

Bark AI tools are available for full use at no cost.

How to choose an AI SFX generator

Selecting the best AI sound effect generator for your game depends on your key priorities. While indie developers might prioritize a more experimental cost-effective solution, a larger developer will want a tried-and-tested tool that can fit seamlessly into an existing workflow. Here, explore the different attributes of AI sound effect generators to consider when choosing your ideal AI tool.

Quality & compatibility

Different models offer varying degrees of audio quality and compatibility. It’s important to make sure the sound effects will be a perfect fit for the visual content of your game.

Price

Some AI sound generators are completely free, and others are unfortunately not. The AI sfx generators currently on the market are subscription-based, running from $4 to upwards of $99/month.

Specialization

Depending on the tool you use, the effects you generate for your video game may not have the parameters for customization you had hoped for. Without the ability to fine-tune and adapt effects, the soundtrack might be repetitive and seem underbaked.

Effectiveness

Because of the fledgling nature of these AI tools, many of them still often produce inaccurate responses to input. It’s therefore worth doing your research on existing users’ experience of each software to ensure it won’t waste your time.

Input scope

Some models for sound generation rely on short, sharp commands, while others respond to more descriptive text. In an exciting development, some models allow users to generate sound effects simply by uploading a video of their game footage.

Royalties & copyright considerations

It is important to check that the software you choose is royalty-free and that the copyright will belong to the user, especially if you’re creating highly specialized sounds. Check that small print!

Limits

Consider what you need from your AI sound effect generator. If you only need simple, common sounds, there are plenty of effective options out there. However, if you’re looking for more creative control, for instance for generating entirely new sounds for a fantasy world, you might need to invest in something more specialized.

Final thoughts

Embracing AI Text-to-Sound tools revolutionizes content creation. In the rapidly evolving realm of video game development, AI-driven sound effect generators are a developer’s not-so-secret weapon, enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of audio engineering.

Our research shows that platforms like ElevenLabs are at the forefront, offering unprecedented flexibility. Developers must select tools that best fit their project’s needs, whether for quality, customization, or user-friendliness. As we harness these technologies, the future of immersive audio content is open to all.

Ready to join the waitlist for ElevenLabs's upcoming sound effects generator product? Sign up here to start using it as soon as it's released.

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