ABOUT
I’m a Game Audio Generalist, Composer, and Sound Designer with experience leading and implementing audio for indie games. Born in Rome, Italy, I grew up in Wales, UK, and am now based in Texas, USA.
I was three years old when I played my first video game on the Windows 98 family computer. Then I got a Game Boy Advance SP and fell in love with games. That passion eventually grew into a career making the things I loved playing as a kid.
I began studying piano through ABRSM in 2006 and am also an experienced vocalist, having performed and toured with the Welsh National Opera. I graduated with First Class Honours in Sound for Games & Apps from dBs Institute in 2021, specializing in game music composition, sound design, and audio implementation.
Now, I work across music, sound design, implementation, and audio direction. I’m the Audio Lead on The Baby in Yellow by Team Terrible, a viral indie horror game with over 300 million downloads worldwide. I’ve led the majority of ongoing audio development in Unreal Engine across six years of production, including music composition, sound design, VO editing, and audio implementation. My music from The Baby in Yellow has been performed by ensembles including the Gateway Chamber Orchestra, Valley Symphony Orchestra, Density512, UNC Symphony Orchestra, and APSU Symphony Orchestra.
I composed the music for Wobbly Life: Space Update, a physics-based multiplayer sandbox game with over 6 million players worldwide. My work has received competitive recognition, including 3rd place in Audio out of 2,400+ entries for Ludum Dare 51, and selection as one of five recipients of the Stan LePard Memorial GDC Scholarship in 2023. I was also sole audio designer and implementer on a VR project developed under StoryTrails, nominated for the 2023 SXSW Innovation Awards.
Alongside my development work, I contribute to the game audio community as a speaker, judge, and mentor. I’m a mentor with Always Supporting the Games Community (ASGC). I’ve given guest lectures at UNC, Berklee College of Music, Texas A&M, and APSU, and have appeared at PAX West, SXSW, IGDA, ASMAC, Airwiggles AirCon, and GameSoundCon. I was also featured in the Global Game Jam Mentor Spotlight 2025. In 2026, I organized and led the first Game Audio Boston Audio Jam.
MENTOR & JUDGE
Mentor - ASGC (Always Supporting the Games Community) 2026 - present
Serving as a Game Audio Mentor since 2026 for ASGC, a global volunteer-run network providing free career resources, mentorship, and job search support for video game industry professionals.
Mentor - Austin Game Music Festival 2026
Selected faculty mentor for AGMF 2026, supporting emerging game composers through hands-on feedback, industry guidance, and collaborative music development.
Judge - G4C-GGJ Next Gen Expert Jam 2026
Judged game submissions for the 2026 Games for Change x Global Game Jam Next Gen Expert Jam, evaluating creativity, technical execution, and impact-driven design focused on global challenges.
Mentor - Global Game Jam Mentor Match-Up Program 2025
Provided remote mentorship for aspiring composers, and game audio enthusiasts worldwide from Nov 2024 to Jan 2025. Featured in the Global Game Jam Mentor Spotlight 2025 for contributions to mentorship and accessibility in game audio education.
Judge & Mentor - EGaDS! Texas Game Jam 2024 & 2025
Mentored participants and judged game jam submissions for the Electronic Game Developers Society at The University of Texas at Austin.
Judge & Speaker - Game Worlds Camp 2024 - present
Guest judge and speaker since 2024 for Game Worlds Summer Camp, a STEM-focused program where students aged 8-18 develop games in collaborative week-long sessions.
Organizer & Mentor - Cardiff Science Festival 2021
Organized and mentored a children’s game jam in Cardiff, Wales, supporting over 100 participants with game audio guidance and development support.
Marcus Galic
Flammington Studios
"Having Virginia Leo as a mentor has been an incredible boost to my confidence as an emerging composer. With honest and relatable knowledge she’s eager to provide valuable advice and share resources to further help the development of artists in game audio. Friendly and easy to talk with, Virginia creates a comfortable space where I can freely share my goals, aspirations and areas I’d like to improve on. I appreciate everything that Virginia has done for me, and have a reinvigorated motivation with a clearer image of the steps to take to progress my own career in game music and audio."
Victor Gautschi
Winnie Gotmilk
"I found out about Virginia’s mentoring services at a crucial point in my career and I’m very glad to have benefitted from her composing and business insights. She speaks from experience in the industry and has a lot of useful information to share as well as motivation to impart. Whether you're a music veteran needing a little boost or just planning the first steps of your musical journey, Virginia will surely prove to be a great support, and work with you to find out key points to improve upon. Many thanks for your support, Virginia!"
LIVESTREAMS
I also livestream the games I’m actively working on, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the development process. These streams create opportunities to engage directly with each game’s community through live Q&A sessions, discussions about audio production, and casual conversations with the developers.
I host a weekly livestream on my YouTube channel, Game Dev Report, where I showcase work-in-progress games from indie developers. Each episode features a deep dive into one selected game, along with live feedback, gameplay impressions, and interviews with the developers behind it.
