CC0 sound effects for commercial games
By flreey · Published
“Free for commercial use” means different things on different sound sites. For a sound inside a finished game the difference rarely matters; for a template, an open-source game or a mod it decides whether you can ship the files at all. This page compares the licenses you will meet, read from each site's own page, and shows where CC0, the license of every sound here, is the one that still works. A platformer set is below to play and download.
| Play | Event | Sound | Length | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win / level completeAscending Arpeggio Level Up Fanfare 71 | Ascending Arpeggio Level Up Fanfare 71 | 0.70 s | ||
| JumpSmooth 8-Bit Video Game Jump 01 | Smooth 8-Bit Video Game Jump 01 | 0.23 s | ||
| LandHollow Heavy Thud 65 | Hollow Heavy Thud 65 | 0.13 s | ||
| Coin / pickupDouble-Chime 8-Bit Coin Pickup 52 (No Reverb) | Double-Chime 8-Bit Coin Pickup 52 (No Reverb) | 1.1 s | ||
| Hit / damageCracking Punch Impact 67 | Cracking Punch Impact 67 | 0.10 s | ||
| Sword slashFast Sword Slash With Metal Ring 11 | Fast Sword Slash With Metal Ring 11 | 0.39 s | ||
| GunshotShort Gunshot | Short Gunshot | 0.15 s | ||
| ExplosionShort Burst 8-Bit Explosion 65 | Short Burst 8-Bit Explosion 65 | 0.41 s | ||
| FootstepsBrisk Walking Footsteps On Wooden Floor 58 | Brisk Walking Footsteps On Wooden Floor 58 | 4.2 s | ||
| DoorQuick Door Opening 50 | Quick Door Opening 50 | 1.0 s | ||
| CheckpointSingle Soft Confirmation Tone 67 (No Reverb) | Single Soft Confirmation Tone 67 (No Reverb) | 0.16 s | ||
| Death / game overSlow 8-Bit Game Over Jingle 65 | Slow 8-Bit Game Over Jingle 65 | 0.38 s |
1. What CC0 lets you do in a game
- Sell the game on any store and platform, at any price, with no royalty.
- Skip the credit: no attribution line, in the credits or anywhere else.
- Change the sounds: trim, layer, pitch-shift or process them.
- Ship the files as they are: in a public repository, a moddable game folder or a demo build.
CC0 is a public domain dedication: the author gives up their rights as far as the law allows. The full text and what it means for the library is on the license page.
2. CC0 next to the licenses you will meet
Free sound sites use different licenses, sometimes several on one site. For a commercial game:
| License | Credit | Sell the game | Share the files | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CC0 1.0: this library, Kenney, some Freesound and OpenGameArt sounds | No | Yes | Yes, on their own too | Kenney |
| CC BY 4.0: many Freesound and OpenGameArt sounds | Yes, in the credits | Yes | Yes, with the credit | Freesound |
| CC BY-NC 4.0: some Freesound sounds | Yes | No | Only non-commercially | Freesound |
| Pixabay Content License | No | Yes, inside your work | Not on their own, unchanged | Pixabay |
| Mixkit Sound Effects Free License | No | Yes, inside your work | Not on their own, nor in a tool or template | Mixkit |
Read on each site's own page on 31 October 2026; terms change, so those pages are the authority. On sites that mix licenses, check each sound's own before you use it. Here every sound has the same one.
3. Where the difference shows: templates, repositories and mods
For a sound buried in a finished game, most free licenses work. They part ways when the files themselves travel:
- A game template or starter kit. Mixkit's sound effects license says an item can't be redistributed “in a tool or template”. CC0 sounds can ship inside one; our own game starter and example projects do.
- An open-source game. A public repository hands out every file to anyone. Pixabay and Mixkit bar sharing their files on their own; CC0 does not.
- A moddable game. Loose audio files players can copy out are fine under CC0.
4. Keep a record of where each sound came from
CC0 needs no credit, but a list of sources answers any question a store, publisher or player asks later. One command downloads a set and writes that list:
npx sfxmint add --set platformer --out assets/audio/sfxNext to the files, SOUNDS.md lists each sound with its page and license. A whole set takes a free account's API key in SFXMINT_API_KEY; without a key you get the first 5 sounds. Keep it in your repository. For sounds downloaded one at a time, note the sound's page address, which never changes.
5. Disclose AI-generated sound on the store
The sounds are made with AI models or procedural synthesis, not copied from recordings (see about). Steam's content survey and itch.io both ask whether a game contains AI-generated content, sound included, so say yes and describe it. The Steam AI disclosure guide has the questions and wording to adapt. The license does not change: the sounds stay CC0.
6. Sets for your kind of game
- Platformer & action game sound set — Jump, land, coin, hit, win, sword, gunshot, explosion, footsteps, door, checkpoint, death
- Retro game sound set — Pickup, jump, hit, power-up, laser, explosion and game over — one coherent chiptune-style kit
- Horror & suspense sound set — Drone, stinger, heartbeat, creak, growl, thunder, footsteps, wind — dread in one kit
- Casual puzzle game sound set — Match, combo, bonus, slide, win, lose, countdown — a complete match-3 / puzzle kit
- Dungeon Traps — Six isolated pressure plate, spike, gear, chain, gate and stone-door actions
- Crisp UI sound set — Dry, tight and bright — for dense productivity and developer tools
Then put them in your engine: Unity, Godot, Unreal Engine, Pygame, Phaser or Ren'Py.
Questions
Do I have to credit SFXMint in my game?
No. CC0 asks for nothing. A line in the credits is welcome, never required.
Can I edit, layer or pitch-shift the sounds?
Yes. Change them however you like; the result is yours to use and does not have to be CC0.
Can the sound files sit in a public GitHub repository or a moddable game folder?
Yes. CC0 allows redistributing the files themselves, so open-source games and games that ship loose audio files are fine. Pixabay's and Mixkit's licenses restrict sharing their files on their own; see the table above.
Do I need to disclose that the sounds are AI-generated?
On Steam, yes: the content survey asks about AI-generated content, sound included. itch.io asks too. The Steam AI disclosure guide has wording to adapt.
Does this work for console and mobile releases?
Yes. CC0 does not limit the platform; the same files can ship on Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, iOS and Android builds.
How many sounds can I download for free?
On the website, 20 MP3 downloads a day, with or without a free account; WAV and ZIP packs come with a purchase. Through the CLI, 5 different sounds a day per network without an API key, 20 a month with a free account's key. Listening is never counted.