Aliens: Fireteam Elite, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Call Of Duty: Vanguard, Guardians Of The Galaxy, and Old World to compete for the Grammy.
It was revealed in June of this year that a new category titled Best Score Soundtrack For Video Games and Other Interactive Media will be added to the Grammy Awards in 2023. This represents a significant advancement in the attention given to such a prominent and revered component of the immersive culture. Until this announcement, Grammy nominations for video game soundtracks had been few and far between, but they were not nonexistent.
Since 1999, video game music has been eligible for Grammy nominations. The Journey soundtrack received a nomination in 2012, and the Civilization IV theme Baba Yetu won the award for Best Instrumental Arrangement in 2011. More recent achievements include the Kirby song “Meta Knight’s Revenge” being nominated for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella, which it won at the 2022 Grammy Awards.
The complete list of nominees is as follows:
- Aliens: Fireteam Elite, by Austin Wintory
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn Of Ragnarök, by Stephanie Economou
- Call Of Duty: Vanguard, by Bear McCreary
- Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, by Richard Jacques
- Old World, by Christopher Tin
The unveiling of the new category was covered by Variety back in October. According to Electronic Arts’ global executive and president of music, Steve Schnur, Video game soundtracks are “overlooked and underappreciated.”
“The most obvious challenge is interactivity: music that can adapt and change in real time based on the consumer’s input, while continually maintaining musicality and interest,” he continued. “There’s really no other form of music-making quite like it.”
Many well-known 2022 games, such as Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, and even God of War Ragnarök, would strike you as unexpected omissions. They might be in the running the following year because the eligibility period for the current period was from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022, a barrier to what would have been top contenders.
Because of these absences, we can at least ensure that the Grammys will be inclined to keep the category alive until next year to give these stunning games the recognition they deserve as well as the actual nominees who all more than deserve to bag the trophy.
