Dan Forden

Director · Designer

Dan Forden is an American video-game audio professional known for sound programming, music composition and long-running Mortal Kombat work.

Born 1963

Career

Forden was hired by Williams Electronics in 1988 and began creating sounds and music for arcade games and pinball machines.

Forden joined the original Mortal Kombat development team in the early 1990s, working alongside Ed Boon, John Tobias and John Vogel.

Forden became Midway's audio department manager in 2002 and coordinated audio efforts across its development studios.

Forden retired from the games industry and left NetherRealm Studios on October 1, 2025.

Interesting Facts

  • Forden's face and voice became the recurring Mortal Kombat 'Toasty!' Easter egg, first appearing in Mortal Kombat II.
  • Outside games, Forden played bass in the progressive-rock band Cheer-Accident during the early 1990s.

Credited Games