NEWS RELEASE
Pressure Cooker Studios Joins Forces with Dimension 11 Studios to Bring the Highly Anticipated Legends of Orisha to Life Through Music and Sound
Cape Town based Music and Audio Studio, Pressure Cooker Studios is extremely proud to announce their partnership with the small but ambitious indie Nigerian game development studio Dimension 11, creators of the highly anticipated action-adventure game Legends of Orisha. As the official Music and Audio partner, Pressure Cooker Studios will lead the creation of the game’s full sonic landscape, including original composition, sound design, and the integration of music as a central game mechanic.
Legends of Orisha is a narrative driven action-adventure role-playing game set in a fictional pre-colonial West Africa. With its striking visual world, mythic characters, and epic narrative scale, the game is already being hailed as one of the most exciting developments in African gaming to date. Now, with Pressure Cooker Studios joining the team, the game’s soundscape will be elevated to match its ambitious scope.
For Pressure Cooker Studios CEO, James Matthes, the decision to join the project was immediate. “From the moment I saw the early visuals at Africa Games Week, I knew Legends of Orisha was something special. It’s rooted in something real, something African, and it was being built with care, intention, and world-class ambition,” says Matthes. “We knew right away that we wanted to be part of telling this story.”
The team at Pressure Cooker Studios will work closely with Dimension 11 not just as a supplier but as a true co-developer. One of the most compelling aspects of the game is its use of the Yoruba talking drum, a sacred instrument used to communicate meaning and emotion, as a core gameplay mechanic. Players will use rhythm and sound to battle Orishas, powerful deities from Yoruba lore, creating a game experience where music is not just heard but played.
“This is not a standard composer brief,” says Matthes. “We’re not dropping in music at the end of a process. We’re embedded in the creative heart of the game. We’re helping shape how music works as a storytelling tool, a gameplay function, and a world-building force. We’re excited to dive deep into this game, like we did with Manor Lords, to make sure we get a really unique and authentic soundtrack to bring the world of the game to life, but not at the expense of serving the game’s core mechanics. It’s about finding the sweet spot between authenticity and cinematic storytelling to serve the game play.
Drawing on extensive research and cultural consultation, the team is building a soundscape that draws inspiration from traditional Yoruba musical structures, especially the complex rhythms and textures of percussive music. Our ongoing collaboration with ethnomusicologist Professor Lucy Durán will help ensure the music remains both respectful and creatively rich, tapping into a cultural legacy that has too often been sidelined in global storytelling.
“We’ve always believed in the power of music to deepen story and emotion. But this project takes that belief to a whole new level,” says Matthes. “Legends of Orisha is an African story told with scale, imagination, and pride, and we’re here to help it sing on the world stage.”
The involvement of Pressure Cooker Studios in the development of the game has come at the perfect time. The recent launch of the studio’s brand-new purpose-built Foley stage will play a big role in elevating the immersive quality of the game’s linear role-playing narrative structure.
As Legends of Orisha is being developed in Unreal Engine 5, Pressure Cooker Studios are going to be working in Unreal Engine 5’s MetaSound. The studios Audio Lead Alec Mackay says:
“On past projects, we used middleware like Wwise or FMOD, which gave us creative freedom by isolating audio from active development. While that had clear advantages, it often meant our work wasn’t fully integrated into the game, leaving much to the developers’ interpretation.
For Legends of Orisha, we’ve moved entirely to Unreal 5’s Metasounds. The direct integration is a game-changer – we’re building deeper, more dynamic connections between sound design and gameplay.”
This partnership also signals a larger commitment by Pressure Cooker Studios to invest in African-led projects that aim to raise the bar for global creative output. Recognising that many African games face budgetary challenges that hold developers back from delivering world-class music and audio for their games, the studio is stepping into a co-development role to help support and elevate projects they believe in.
Ewere Igumbor, CEO of Dimension11 says: “Our journey has always been driven by a desire to tell uniquely African stories through games. Legends of Orisha: Blood and Water is the culmination of years of worldbuilding, prototyping, and finding the right creative partners who share our belief in the power of interactive storytelling rooted in our heritage.
Collaborating with Pressure Cooker Studios feels like a natural extension of that mission. We’re incredibly excited that two independent studios from two different African countries are coming together to build something that, we believe, represents a major step forward, not just for this game, but for the industry across the continent. Partnerships like this are important. They show what’s possible when African creators work together with shared respect, vision, and ambition.”
With backing from Xbox and growing global attention, Legends of Orisha is well on its way to becoming a breakout title in the international games landscape. With Pressure Cooker Studios onboard, the game is now poised to deliver not only stunning visuals and gripping gameplay, but a groundbreaking and culturally rich music and audio experience that resonates far beyond the screen.
