Im using Cubase Artist 8.5. Coming back to Cubase after a long hiatus, and a legacy version SX3 of Cubase as my last reference point.

So, new to me is the Media Bay and all its search features. I just discovered only the Pro version of Cubase has "libraries". 

While the way I use the audio I create doesnt require the use of a Sampler, or so I thought, I am wondering now if a sampler would solve the search and access workflow issue I can see looming before me. I have sounds I made a while back that are in folders aof exported audio that I had at one time organized on a hard drive and have pulled manually into some new projects. Thats ok and it works for now, but I am wanting to know what combination of features I already have in Artist 8.5 and maybe some other simple (meaning basic/inexpensive) sampler or similar software I could be using for better workflow.

 

I use Cubase at work for both music and sound design. I'm not a huge fan of Media Bay... or Cubase but I can make it work. (My home studio is Logic Pro X and Mac - which I'm much more comfortable with and have been using for a long, long time.) 

Often what I end up doing is creating my own sound effect samples, using some synth patches and then have a wide selection of royalty free sound effect libraries to create the needed sound effects in the game. 

Cubase 9 Pro has the sampler track which is great for taking in source sounds and messing around with it quite a bit. Variaudio is alright too although it has too many artifacts for my taste - so I prefer Melodyne instead. But you mention needing or possibly needing a sampler. Cubase comes with one - check this out: