Meet Michelle Hebert

Michelle Hebert is a rockstar at game audio. She got her industry start at Blizzard, moved over to Carbine Studios to work on the Wildstar MMO, and then joined Sucker Punch Productions to do audio work for Ghosts of Tsushima for the entirety of the project.

Now she’s working on the best game evah—Pigeon Simulator!

Check out her bio below… and see if you can get that gumbo recipe for us.

What’s your story?

I originally went to school for theatre and fell in love with Sound Design and the power that audio can bring to any form of media. I knew that I wanted to focus on interactive media and sound design as a career. I didn’t get to play a lot of games growing up, with the exception of educational games at school and the few friends who had game consoles. That changed when my younger brother received a Playstation for Christmas - we’d play “Crash Bandicoot” but “PaRappa the Rapper” was my jam! At some point, I got into playing “World of Warcraft”. Then by chance, as I was trying to sort out what to do with my life, I met someone who was employed as a Game Master at Blizzard Entertainment and they referred me for some open positions in the Game Master department. I figured getting my foot in the door would be a good start and games were the interactive media that I could work into a viable career path. Plus, being a Game Master was a rewarding experience and allowed me the opportunity to interface with the player base.

Following my time as a Game Master, I transitioned into QA - always intent on working my way into Game Audio. I was given the opportunity to work embedded with the Audio Department at Carbine Studios on their MMO, “Wildstar”. There, I learned so much about the process of Game Development and what Game Audio entails. As soon as an opening on the team became available, I jumped at the chance.

Our family moved to Washington state, and I found an opportunity to work at Sucker Punch Productions on their newly greenlit title “Ghost of Tsushima”. It was a thrill to be able to work on a game from start to finish. And the team was amazing to work with. Following the launch of the Director’s Cut and the expansion “Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island Expansion” it was time for me to find new projects.

I made a choice to take a step back from AAA and get involved with smaller projects - ideally projects that I would be excited about. “Pigeon Simulator” checked those boxes! This team is amazing!

Some fun Michelle facts….

I’ve lived in 9 different US states and on an island off the coast of Portugal.

Once took an epic road trip to go dog sledding that included: having dinner with complete strangers, saving a man from an overturned pickup truck in the snow, staying at the Clown Motel in Tonopah, NV (before they remodeled), and taking the unmarked backroad out of Death Valley with the gas tank on E beyond sunset!

I teach my two dogs to use Augmented Interspecies Communication to converse.

I am learning to play the Acadian Accordion.

That last name is pronounced “a-bear”.

I wish it were snowing…

Michelle In a Nutshell