Video game soundtracks get their own Grammy category this year

Long relegated to the margins, video game score soundtracks are finally being recognized with their own category at this year’s Grammy Awards.

Five nominees will compete in Sunday’s event, from the original 70 scores submitted for the category’s first year. The nominee is composer Austin Wintory Alien: Fireteam EliteStephanie Economou for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of RagnarokBear McCreary for Telephone of duty: VanguardRichard Jacques for marvel’s Guardian of Galaxy and Christopher Tin for old the world.

The success of video game music coincides with the overall growth of the global game market, which in 2022 generated a total revenue of $184.4 billion and is expected to earn $211.2 billion in 2025, according to data analytics company Newzoo.

The video game industry is also flourishing during the COVID-19 pandemic as people increasingly turn to digital entertainment during the lockdown.

“It was only a matter of time before the Grammys recognized that there were a lot of soundtracks produced for video games and they were all great,” Tin told Reuters.

tin Our father theme for the game Civilization IV won the Grammy for best instrumental arrangement in 2011, making him the first video game nominee and winner, while Wintory’s soundtrack for the game. Journey Nominated for best soundtrack score for visual media in 2012.

“Video games have been making waves with new revenue streams for some time,” Uziel Colon, who helped develop the new category, told the Grammys. “In the future, video games and music will merge – it’s already happening.”

Eligible since 1999, only one nomination

However, video game music doesn’t always hit all the right notes for special recognition at the Grammys.

“Video game music has been eligible for Grammys since 1999, and only one score has ever been nominated before, which was ten years ago. There are people who I am not satisfied with that,” Wintory told Reuters.

Wintory said that video games were not nominated in the category of best score soundtracks for film, television and other media because they labeled other media “marginalizing” as a diverse category.

But game music has recently evolved through technological innovation and new ways for consumers to experience it.

These include live immersive video game concerts, video game scores on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, TikTok and Fortnite, remixes and collaborations, augmented and virtual reality, and even eye tracking technology.

Economou told Reuters that having the Grammys’ recognition validates that video game music is shaping the “musical landscape of society.”

‘It’s a close collaboration’

McCreary, who has composed music for popular shows like Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power believe that creating for games, movies and TV shows is not so different.

“For me, the story and the theme are universal,” he told Reuters.

However, he says that video games present unique challenges for composers because the interactive experience is witnessed only by the audience.

The music must “work in a unique technical capacity, beyond just supporting the narrative,” he said.

Collaborating with game developers and audio teams informs his ability to write music that can be seamlessly integrated into video games.

“It’s a close collaboration like no other in the entertainment industry,” McCreary said.