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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.

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.

The award goes to the original composer(s) of the score.

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.

Winners and nominees

Composers with multiple nominations

3 nominations

• Bear McCreary

2 nominations

• Austin Wintory

References

1. "New Categories For The 2023 GRAMMYs Announced: Songwriter Of The Year, Best Video Game Soundtrack, Best Song For Social Change & More Changes". GRAMMY. 2022-07-14. Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
2. Grein, Paul (June 14, 2024). "Grammys 2025: No New Categories, But 10 Rule Tweaks". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
3. Nightingale, Ed (2022-06-10). "Video Game Score category added to the Grammy Awards". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2023-05-28. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
4. "The fight to open up the Grammy Awards to the game biz".
5. Nightingale, Ed (2022-11-16). "Nominees named for first ever video game Grammy Award". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
6. Phillips, Jevon (2023-02-05). "The 2023 Grammy Awards winners list". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2023-11-11. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
7. "Grammy Awards 2023: The Full List of Nominees". The New York Times. 2023-02-06. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
8. ""Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok" Wins the First GRAMMY Award for Best Score Soundtrack For Video Games/Interactive Media". The Recording Academy. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
9. Willman, Chris (2023-11-10). "2024 Grammys Nominations Full List: SZA Leads With 9 Noms, Phoebe Bridgers Follows With 7". Variety. Archived from the original on 2023-11-11. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
10. Kerr, Chris (2024-02-05). "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor wins Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games at the Grammys". Game Developer. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
11. "2025 GRAMMYs: See The OFFICIAL Full Nominations List | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved 2024-11-10.

• Grammy Award categories
• Awards established in 2023
• Video game awards