2002-2012
UKRAINE & EUROPE
RHYTHM, CHOIR, & 90s PC GAMES
Growing up in Ozerne, Ukraine, my musical foundation was built on a unique contrast. On one hand, I spent 11 years training in acrobatics and Eastern European folk dance, touring internationally with the Sonechko Ensemble. Learning to dance at that level from age six taught me how to feel rhythm, syncopation, and momentum in my bones.
At the same time, my mother sang in the renowned Zhytomyr Choir Capella “Oreya.” I grew up with this incredibly beautiful, ethereal choral music constantly playing in the background, shaping my ear for atmosphere and deep harmony.
Ultimately, these two worlds collided on our family PC. Playing games like Diablo, Warcraft, and Legacy of Kain in the early 2000s made me realize that the driving rhythms of folk dance and the ethereal atmospheres of classical choirs were exactly what made video game soundtracks so magical. That realization is what drives my approach to scoring dynamic, immersive game audio today.
2012-2015
OREGON & KYIV
THE OREGON EXCHANGE & TATAMUSIC STUDIO
In 2012, after three intense selection rounds, I earned the US State Department FLEX scholarship - securing one of just 300 spots out of over 10,000 applicants. The program brought me to Oregon, where my musical focus shifted entirely to the guitar. I played in the local high school jazz band and formed my own rock trio, Almost Americans, getting my first real taste of booking, promoting, and staging live concerts.
But my true technical education began when I returned to Ukraine in 2013 and joined Kyiv’s Tatamusic Production Studio.
Tatamusic was the major production house behind national prime-time broadcasts like The Voice, X-Factor, and Ukraine’s Got Talent. Learning directly from the senior producers who produced music for those massive shows is where I mastered the craft of commercial audio. Through their mentorship, I was taught the rigorous technical side of mixing and arranging, how to write strictly to picture, and the importance of delivering pristine audio under tight deadlines. That environment gave me the exact technical foundation I needed to start producing my own full video game soundtracks.
2015-2019
NEW YORK CITY
[ ↗ Pernassau's Box OST ]
[ ↗ Legacy of Kain Re-orchestrations ]
NEW YORK, CULT CLASSICS & GOING FULL-TIME
In 2015, I relocated to New York City. With no industry contacts or insider roadmap, I spent my nights and weekends gradually building a game scoring career while working non-music day jobs. That same year I landed my first commercial commissions - scoring Pernassau’s Box for Byte Me Games and writing over a dozen interactive tracks for Silica NeXus.
Around the same time, I leaned into my love for dark, atmospheric game audio by re-orchestrating scores for cult franchises, leading to official work on fan remakes like Soul Revenant (Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver) and Blood Omnicide (Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain). Those re-imagined soundtracks caught fire online, generating over half a million streams from passionate retro gaming communities.
Working on those early titles gave me hands-on experience taking projects from a raw design brief all the way to final implementation. After seven years of balancing side projects alongside day jobs, the momentum reached a point where in 2020 I took the leap into composing for video games full-time.
2020-2023
LVIV
THE GOLDEN IDOL SAGA, GLOBAL CRITICAL ACCLAIM & WARTIME RESILIENCE
In January 2020, I returned to Ukraine to focus 100% on composing for games. Living between Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, and eventually Lviv, I spent those first two years scoring across the indie scene - completing music for over twenty titles, including the post-apocalyptic RPG Space Wreck. During this period, I also continued my live electronic practice, performing a recorded DJ set back in Ozerne in 2021.
In early 2022, while living in Lviv, I was hired to compose the soundtrack for The Case of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack). Just three tracks into production, the full-scale war began. Determined to maintain focus, I composed throughout 2022 between air-raid alerts, writing cues on a laptop in between visiting bomb shelters. Later that year, when missile strikes knocked out Lviv’s electrical grid, I adapted to citywide blackouts by using battery-powered synthesizers and candlelight to perform and record November Play, a live video game set.
To aid local humanitarian efforts, I produced the Ukrainian Alternative Folk Album in collaboration with my wife, raising donations directly a non-profit organisation Polissya Volunteers.
That period became my international breakthrough. The Case of the Golden Idol earned a BAFTA Games nomination, praise in the UK's Edge magazine, and a dedicated analysis by 8-Bit Music Theory, while my electronic soundtrack for the VR hit GRAB reached over 125,000 Streams. Prior to the release of the Spider of Lanka DLC in 2023, I relocated to Montenegro before establishing my studio permanently in London.
2024-Present
CANARY WHARF, LONDON
KYLE MISKO STUDIO & THE NEXT GENERATION OF GAME AUDIO
Now based in London with my wife Fernanda, I operate Kyle Misko Studio from Canary Wharf. Backed by over 1.95 million lifetime streams and 20+ shipped titles, my UK practice bridges custom commercial scoring with active industry leadership.
Alongside scoring titles like Space Wreck (Latvian Game Awards audio nominee), the Egyptian roguelite The Book of Aaru, and upcoming releases like Love & Fool's Gold (50,000+ Steam wishlists) and Silicon Scars, I actively cultivate the UK games scene. Through founding Memory Card - a London event series uniting studio showcases, developer interviews, and interactive live DJ sets - I advocate for the power of bespoke, identity-driven audio in interactive media.
INFLUENCES
The 90s and 2000s game scores that made me fall in love with interactive audio.
