If you’re making a video game, chances are you’ve got some sound effects in mind. But how do you get those sounds for free?

There are many websites on the internet where you can download sound effects for free. The problem, of course, is knowing where to look.

These 11 sites are great places to find high-quality sound effects for your next video game project. Whether you’re looking for animal sounds, ambient noise, or something else, they should have the sound effects you’re looking for.

1. Mixkit

Mixkit is from Envato, the company that owns some of the most popular marketplaces for creative assets, tools, and talents. The free service offers high-quality videos, music, and sound effects.

The site has hundreds of decent-quality sound effects you can use in your games for free. Whether you’re looking for rain and thunderstorm sounds or an aggressive beast roar, this is the place to camp.

Mixkit lets you search for sound effects by categories and tags like intro transition, woosh wind, and cinematic. You can also search through the catalog by typing what you’re looking for in the search bar. Best of all, there’s no sign up required.

2. Videvo

If you want to search for effects on a site with an extensive collection of sounds, look no further than Videvo. This site has more than 180,000 clips, including free and paid sound effects.

The effects cover a wide range of sounds for game development, from weapons to ambient noises, gunshots, and animal noises.

Videvo has a clean and easy-to-navigate user interface, making searching for sounds easy. You can use the site’s filter system to search for sound effects by clip type (free or paid) or genre. Alternatively, you can use a sort feature to select sound effects randomly or by popularity or time of upload.

3. 99 Sounds

99 Sounds is a library of carefully edited and mastered sound effects shared by a community of sound designers. The free sound effects site has several dozen libraries that include world sounds, underground sounds, and electromagnetic sounds, each with a list of categories.

The categories include rain and thunder, aircraft, church bells, and transition sounds. Members can interact with each other’s creations, making it feel more like a social media platform than just a catalog of audio files.

4. ZapSplat

ZapSplat is a collection of sound effects and music tracks created by professional sound designers, field recordists, and the organization itself. The site features over 100,000 sound effects, with hundreds added every week.

You can search through the sounds using a drop-down category filter or the site’s search bar. Some free sound effects categories include cartoon, foley, explosions, nature, and animal sounds.

5. SoundBible

SoundBible is a fantastic platform that offers thousands of free and royalty-free sound effects in WAV and MP3 audio file formats. The site provides a wide variety of sound effects, including dog bark, gun, and alien spaceship sounds.

Downloading sound effects is pretty straightforward. When you click on a sound, it takes you to a download page that shows the file size, number of downloads, and license type.

6. Freesound

Freesound.org is one of the best sites for free Creative Commons music and sound effects. The site allows members to upload sound effects and music to the database.

The platform hosts over 400,000 sounds, making it a great place to search for game sounds. You can look for something specific by typing keywords in the search bar. You can also filter sounds by length, rating, and date added.

7. Partners In Rhyme

Partners In Rhyme has an extensive library of sound effects that game developers can use for free in their work. The site has an ordered directory of sounds, making it easy to find the sound effects you want.

You can also scroll pages to find the sound you want or use the search function to locate sound effects quickly. The site has a broad range of sounds, from human and animal to vehicle and ambient sounds.

A major drawback is that Partners In Rhyme doesn’t own many of the sound effects on the site and can’t grant permission for commercial use.

8. Free SFX

Free SFX has over 4,500 sound effects uploaded by music companies, professional sound designers, and freelance composers. The sound effects include nature, sci-fi, hospital, and comical sounds. These are all free to download in MP3 format.

9. Open Game Art

OpenGameArt is a website that aims to provide game designers with many resources to use in their games. All content on Open Game Art is free to download, although there might be some licensing restrictions.

The site has an extensive selection of sounds, including explosions, digital, RPG, and casino sound effects. You can browse through a list of sound effects or use a search tool to find something specific. You can listen to previews or download these sound clips by visiting their audio page.

10. SoundGator

SoundGator offers hundreds of free sound effects you can use in your project. You can search for sounds by keyword or browse through categories such as domestic, human, industrial, and nature sound effects.

Clicking on a sound effect takes you to a download page with details like file info, format, and license type. You can also preview sound effects before downloading in MP3 or WAV format. Plus, you don’t have to log in to download files.

11. PlayOnLoop

PlayOnLoop offers many original sound effects, and all are exclusive to the site. The sounds are available for free under Creative Commons licenses. PlayOnLoop categorizes sound effects as impact, background, ambiance, and rising.

The site is easy to navigate, making it faster to find what you need. You can also use a search function to narrow down your results based on parameters like title, genre, and instrument.

Add Realism to Your Game Using Sound Effects

If you’re working on a game, chances are you’ll need some sound effects to spice up your project. These could be anything from background ambiance and UI clicks to animal sounds and footsteps of the main character.

It’s no secret that finding sound effects for your newest game development project can be challenging. This is especially true if you are on a budget, and many vendors charge by the bundle, quickly raising your bill. But there are many sources of free game sound effects, and you can always create your own.