A whole new category honoring music created for video games debuted at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Five outstanding soundtracks competed for the title of “Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media” in a night of industry history that should only help elevate the music gamers have admired for so long.
Even though there are more video game concerts taking place and even classical radio stations playing video game music, a special category at the Grammy Awards is undoubtedly the most public demonstration of love for video game music in recent memory. Both Christopher Tin and Austin Wintory, who composed Old World and Aliens: Fireteam Elite, respectively, were previous Grammy nominees and were competing for this new prize. A number of other titles were nominated, including Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Call of Duty: Vanguard, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok.
The Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games Grammy was awarded for the first time to Stephanie Economou. Economou managed to thank everyone, from the Ubisoft team to her family, despite the fact that her speech was far shorter than Christopher Judge’s infamous Game Awards acceptance speech. She ended by thanking The Recording Academy for the prize and for validating “the power of gaming music,” and recognizing those who worked tirelessly to create the category.
