The Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media was first presented at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards held in February 2023. The award was introduced to recognize the impact of music specifically written for video games and other interactive media. This is a sister category to the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, which previously honored scores written for film, television and video games, though Journey in 2013 was the only game ever nominated.
Background The Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media was announced on June 9, 2022 alongside four additional new categories that would be presented for the first time at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Of the category, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. stated "We're so excited to honour these diverse communities of music creators through the newly established awards and amendments, and to continue cultivating an environment that inspires change, progress and collaboration. The Academy's top priority is to effectively represent the music people that we serve, and each year, that entails listening to our members and ensuring our rules and guidelines reflect our ever-evolving industry."
Prior to the creation of this category, only three video game soundtracks had ever been nominated at the Grammy Awards and many composers and studios had been campaigning for the Recording Academy to recognize the medium for some time. The first piece of music from a video game ever to be nominated for and win a Grammy in any category was "Baba Yetu", a song arranged by Christopher Tin for Civilization IV which won Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. Following this, composer Austin Wintory's score for Journey was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media in 2013. In 2022, Charlie Rosen and Jake Silverman won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for their cover of "Meta Knight's Revenge" from Kirby Super Star.
Criteria Albums that are eligible for this award must predominantly contain scores specifically written for, or as a companion to, current video games or other interactive media. As of the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, the eligibility criteria was amended to establish that more than 50% of the submitted recording must be derived from new episodes or new programming, allowing seasonal updates and downloadable content to be submitted in the years following the release of the base game.
Winners and nominees Year Work Artist 2023 Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok Stephanie Economou Aliens: Fireteam Elite Austin Wintory Call of Duty: Vanguard Bear McCreary Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Richard Jacques Old World Christopher Tin 2024 Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Sarah Schachner God of War Ragnarök Bear McCreary Hogwarts Legacy Peter Murray, J Scott Rakozy and Chuck Myers Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical Jess Serro, Tripod and Austin Wintory 2025 Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord Winifred Phillips Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Pinar Toprak God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla Bear McCreary Marvel's Spider-Man 2 John Paesano Star Wars Outlaws Wilbert Roget II 2026 Sword of the Sea Austin Wintory Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – Secrets of the Spires Pinar Toprak Helldivers 2 Wilbert Roget II Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Gordy Haab Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card & A Pirate's Fortune Cody Matthew Johnson and Wilbert Roget II
Composers with multiple nominations
3 nominations Bear McCreary Wilbert Roget II Austin Wintory
2 nominations Gordy Haab Pinar Toprak
References