Inside Sound Design with Bill Mueller

This week’s episode of Dev to Dev is one that will stick with me for a while, not just because Bill Mueller is an incredible professional, but because his path into games is so wonderfully human.

Bill grew up in East Boston and was first captivated by the magic of controlling a character on a TV screen via his Commodore 64 and then discovering the people behind the scenes of live production, those running the lights, audio boards, and cameras. A profound moment at a Disney on Ice show lit a lifelong spark that has carried Bill into music, audio engineering, radio, and live television.

What I loved most about this chat is how Bill talks about challenge as something he needs. Whenever he hit a ceiling - in radio, in TV, even in early game roles - he looked for the next mountain to climb. And the moment he played Bioshock, he knew exactly what that mountain was: game audio. This moment inspired an incredibly brave pivot that was fascinating to discover!

Bill’s journey into the industry wasn’t easy. He networked his way in, built demo reels from scratch, and even took a production role just to get a foot in the door. Later, when 38 Studios collapsed and he suddenly lost his job, his pay, and his healthcare. What follows is an incredibly human story of the realities of following a passion in a creative business. Through a combination of events, Bill went from finally the role he had wanted to suddenly losing it all just as his family hit a major milestone, leaving him staring at the potential end of the dream. A fortunate connection, and some incredible timing, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and reveals a Game Dev reality that really isn’t to be missed!

Bill has now spent more than a decade working on Elder Scrolls Online, blending creativity, technology, and problem-solving into a craft that’s become part of who he is. And through it all, he’s remained grounded, thoughtful, and incredibly generous with his story.

Highlights

• Growing up with the Commodore 64 and NES in a one-TV household
• Discovering the “behind-the-scenes” world at Disney on Ice
• Studying Sound Recording Technology at UMass Lowell
• Radio and live TV — and the thrill (and terror!) of live audio
• The moment Bioshock changed everything
• Networking into game development through local Boston meetups
• The collapse of 38 Studios and losing everything at once
• Getting hired at ZeniMax while his son was being born
• How 13 years on ESO shaped his love for technical audio
• Bill’s philosophy of problem-solving and perseverance

Find the Podcast at:

• Patreon: DevToDevPodcast
• RSS: https://feeds.castos.com/r37p9
• Instagram: @devto.devpodcast
• Bluesky: @devtodevpodcast.bsky.social
• TikTok: @devtodevpodcast
• YouTube: @DevToDevPodcast
• Email: [email protected]

Find Bill At:

• billsaudio.me
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/williammueller/