And Why You Shouldn’t Mute It Completely
One of the first things competitive players do in a multiplayer game is drop the music volume. The reasoning is simple enough: less music means clearer positional cues like footsteps, and fewer distractions during fights.
That mindset has been around for a long time, especially in shooters that evolved from older deathmatch-style games where music barely existed during actual gameplay. After all, the original multiplayer games played over LAN never had soundtracks. The focus was purely on information. Hear the enemy first, react quicker, and win more fights (not to mention racking up a higher K/D ratio for yourself)
But we find that mindset highly limiting because…
Music Had Always Been Part of Gaming
Music always played a much bigger role in gaming than people realize.
Even in the earliest generations of games, when hardware limitations meant working with simple loops and compressed sound, music still shaped how games felt. A huge part of why older titles remain memorable today comes down to their soundtracks.
Mario had its signature theme, as well as its bright and joyous soundtrack that occasionally went dark and foreboding, whenever the serious levels came up. And Castlevania, before it helped define a completely new genre, was synonymous with gothic horror and synth-ified baroque arrangements, with iconic tracks such as Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears, and of course, the absolute beast that is Bloodlines.
Long before games had realistic graphics or cinematic storytelling, music was one of the central ways on how to establish mood and atmosphere that made games more immersive. And as games became larger and more complex, that role only grew out of simple 8 to 16 bit loops to fully designed soundscapes.
Single-Player Games Rely on Music
In single-player games, music does far more than sit in the background. It controls pacing, builds tension before a big boss fight, and gives emotional weight to peak story moments. Soap’s death in Modern Warfare 3 wouldn’t have felt as big and important as it did without the soundtrack composed by Brian Taylor.
Music also makes exploration feel more mysterious and victories more triumphant. This is best seen in the hit 2017 indie game, Hollow Knight, where every biome has its unique theme that sets the tone from the others. The starting areas of Dirtmouth and the Forgotten Crossroads have a somber and lonely theme that is starkly contrasted by Greenpath, which feels more alive and welcoming but never friendly! And then you have Deepnest which feels the most eerie and hostile out of all the areas – and that’s just the ambient soundtrack.
Bosses have their own unique themes which can either be something you barely remember, having defeated a minor boss on your first try, or something you’ve come to dread as you try and try again. But take the music away from those boss fights and you’re robbed of a proper victory and catharsis once you beat them and the music goes back to normal.
Music simply helps transform the experience from basic gameplay into a much more immersive atmosphere.
What’s interesting is that multiplayer games still use music too. Just differently.
Far From “Just Background Noise”
Music is part of what makes games feel bigger than they actually are. So much of the experience in playing an action RPG like Witcher 3 is defined by the soundtrack from the ambient music, to the fighting tracks.
A really close multiplayer match with the right music feels a lot more intense than it should be. The same moment without music may still be mechanically exciting, but unless you’re playing a more hardcore tactical shooter it becomes emotionally flatter: less memorable, and far less cinematic.
Of course, the big reason many players still lower the music volume, especially in ranked or competitive environments is to prioritize game information. Nobody wants the soundtrack masking footsteps or reloads when you’re hunting each other in a fight.
But optimizing for competition isn’t always the most important thing, and is far from being able to truly enjoy gaming. That’s the balance modern games constantly try to manage, and one that you should look for in your hardware. Lowering the music is a compromise that gamers used to do out of necessity.
But with the wide plethora of options we’ve got now for gaming audio, that’s simply no longer the case. If you want our recommendations on the best gaming earbuds out there right now, in 2026, check out our list here.
