You don’t snag the voice talent of Martin Sheen on Mass Effect 2 just for the marketing hype. Though other celebrities like Seth Green and Carrie-Anne Moss also loaned their pipes to the popular video game from EA’s BioWare in Edmonton, Montreal audio prodco Wave Generation says it’s a testament to the importance of good work.

“We’re very much in favour of hiring good actors – celebrity or otherwise,” says creative director Michael Elman. “Not to say you need a celebrity, but I think people are starting to realize that it’s worth going out and finding good people.”

Voice acting is only one of the elements that’s changing in the audio world, specifically in the gaming universe, and Wave Gen has itself tapped into the market. With a focus on the interactive and digital media space since it formed in 2001, it’s since built up a name for itself in the audio production field, with clients ranging from smaller developers to Ubisoft and EA.

Wave Gen recently wrapped up on EA’s kid-targeted SkyHeroes, the latest title in the MySims franchise, slated for a September 28 release. Both EA and Montreal-based developer A2M wanted a more grown-up, fuller sound, a task set for WG’s senior composer Nicolas Marquis.

“We wanted this very energetic score to appeal to an older audience,” notes Marquis, who used a blend of real guitars, hip-hop beats and an electronic orchestra. “We tried to avoid the more cheesy melodies and make it more exciting and expressive.”

Elman compares the score to that of John Williams’ epic score for Harry Potter, a sound that can be achieved digitally. “A lot of people are quite surprised by what’s capable and possible by producing music in a studio rather than recording every instrument live,” he adds. “”We do it because you can prototype the concept very quickly and things in the game world change all the time. I don’t know how we would work at today’s pace in the video game industry if we didn’t have these types of tools available to us.”

Wave Gen is having no trouble finding work, especially with Montreal being such a hub for game development. “Smaller developers are attracted to a company like ours because they may not have an audio department at all,” says Elman. “So they can tap into experienced people without having to build from scratch.”

The studio is also capable of doing audio for film, TV and commercials, an area that Wave Gen would like to tap into. “There’s no expertise difference between feature animated film and cinematics for games,” states Elman.