Matt Uelmen

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Matt Uelmen
sound designer
Instrument(s)Keyboard, guitar, flute and percussion
Years active1994–present

Matt Uelmen (

sound designer for the real-time strategy game StarCraft, and worked on World of Warcraft's expansion The Burning Crusade in 2007. From 2009 until the studio's closure in 2017, Matt Uelmen worked as a member of the Runic Games team, as a composer and sound designer for the Torchlight games.[5]

Biography

Early life and work

Growing up in the

Debussy while he was in high school, and Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix and Tom Waits later on. He later diversified his instruments to include the flute, guitar, keyboard and percussion.[6][8]

He studied at

Sunsoft, released in 1995 for the Sega Genesis.[8][9]

Blizzard Entertainment (1996-2008)

In March 1996,

Redwood City), where he did sound design; that game was released two years after Diablo, in 1998.[16]

On June 29, 2000, Blizzard launched the second game of the Diablo series,

Gamasutra, Uelmen was asked about his time at Blizzard between 2001 and 2005. When asked whether he had worked on the earlier version of Diablo III prior to the shutdown of Blizzard North, he responded, "I guess at this point I can say, yes, more or less. Blizzard has always had a number of projects, though, that may or may not see the light of day. Some of those have been talked about, but there definitely was more than one thing going on development-wise at the time."[5]

From 2005 to 2007, Uelmen created some of the sound and music for Blizzard's popular

Outland.[21] He is one of about ten composers who have contributed to World of Warcraft. After his departure from Blizzard, his work was used as the basis for some of the tracks in the Blizzard Entertainment and Eminence Symphony Orchestra collaboration, Echoes of War (2008).[22]

Runic Games and Echtra Games (2009-present)

In 2009, Uelmen joined the newly formed Runic Games, which includes several former Blizzard North and Flagship Studios employees.[11] He composed the score for their 2009 game, Torchlight and served as sound designer.[23][24] He continued to work at Runic on Torchlight II, which released in September 2012. Runic Games closed down in November 2017, shortly after releasing Hob.

In 2016, Uelmen followed his former long-time colleague Max Schaefer as he started the new game company Echtra Games.[25] In 2020, he worked on the soundtrack to Torchlight III.[25]

Works

All works listed below were composed by Uelmen unless otherwise noted

Year Title Notes
1995 Justice League Task Force also sound design
1996 Diablo
1997 Diablo: Hellfire
1998 StarCraft sound design
2000 Diablo II
2001 Diablo II: Lord of Destruction
2007 World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade With Russel Brower and Derek Duke
2009 Torchlight
2012 Diablo III Guitars / Dulcimer
Torchlight II
2014 Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Monster Voice Effects
2017 Hob
2020 Torchlight III
2024 Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred Composed "Kurast" with Ted Reedy

References

  1. ^ "Matt Uelmen". Spock. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  2. ^ "Matt Uelmen". youmix.co.uk. Archived from the original on December 23, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  3. ^ "Matt Uelmen". OverClocked ReMix. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  4. ^ "Matt Uelmen". VGMdb. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  5. ^
    Gamasutra
    . Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Interview With Matt Uelmen". RPGamer.com. February 19, 2001. Archived from the original on September 30, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  7. ^ "Matt Uelmen". MobyGames. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  8. ^ a b c d Studnicky, Dan. "Interviews: Questions with Matt Uelmen". Gamesmania. Archived from the original on October 6, 2001. Retrieved August 29, 2009.
  9. ^ a b Kelly, Ryan. "Masters of the Craft: Blizzard's Composers". GameSpy. Archived from the original on May 31, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  10. Georgetown College. September 28, 2009. Archived from the original
    on June 10, 2010.
  11. ^ a b "Matt Uelmen". LinkedIn. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  12. ^ "Davidson & Associates, Inc. Signs a Definitive Merger Agreement With Condor, Inc". PR Newswire. March 6, 1996. Retrieved September 28, 2009. Alternate source
  13. ^ "Diablo". MetaCritic. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  14. ^ "A criatividade vs. O óbvio: A música inovadora de Diablo I e II" (in Portuguese). Gamecultura.com.br. March 27, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  15. ^ "The History of Computer Role-Playing Games Part III: The Platinum and Modern Ages (1994–2004)". Gamasutra. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  16. ^ "Starcraft Tech Info". Gamespot. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  17. ^ "Coda & Roger and Me – Matt Uelmen". Phantasmelodia. July 2008. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  18. ^ "1st Annual Game Developers Choice Awards". Game Developers Choice Awards. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  19. ^ "BlizzCon 08: New Diablo III Tunes, New Co-Composer Announced". Original Sound Version. October 12, 2008. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  20. GamesRadar. Archived from the original
    on June 16, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
  21. ^ "Interview with Blizzard Entertainment Audio Director & World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Lead Composer Russell Brower". Music4Games. April 20, 2007. Archived from the original on July 23, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  22. ^ "Echoes of War: The Music of Blizzard Entertainment Legendary Edition". VGMdb. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  23. ^ "Torchlight Trailer: The Valiant Vanquisher". Shacknews. September 14, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  24. ^ "Torchlight Interview With Lead Composer and New Screenshots". Curse.com. August 24, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2009.
  25. ^ a b "Interview with Matt Uelmen". Diablo 3 ESP. May 6, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
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