The Recording Academy introduced a new Grammy Award category, Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, in recognition of the influence of video game music.

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Over the past 20 years, game soundtracks have significantly impacted the media music scene. Only one game has ever received a nomination, however it has been possible to win music’s highest honour since 1999 (in the film and TV music category): Austin Wintory’s historic score for Journey in 2012.

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The tongue-twisting score soundtrack for video games and other interactive media was introduced by the Recording Academy in June after years of lobbying from both game developers and composers. Its goal is to recognize excellence in score soundtrack albums comprised predominantly of original scores and created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current video game or other interactive media.

Following soundtracks have been nominated:

Aliens: Fireteam Elite

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök

Call of Duty: Vanguard

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy

Old World

The Journey composer Austin Wintory tweeted his joy at receiving the honour among his peers as well as his own second nomination. Although Wintory’s Aliens: Fireteam Elite album, which skillfully innovated with the conventional sounds and motifs present throughout the classic horror genre, is the work for which he has received recognition, the groundbreaking gamer confronts stiff competition for his second Grammy. Composer Bear McCreary received a nomination for Call of Duty: Vanguard, a first-person game that didn’t win over fans but carried on an amazing heritage of OSTs despite being released too late into 2022 for God of War Ragnarok to be taken into consideration.

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Unlike the Game Awards, which has an eligibility cut-off in November, the Grammy Awards only consider OSTs released between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022. Additionally, the music heard in-game and the OST are two separate entities, typically requiring individual contracts, meaning that although titles may have been released earlier, their final soundtracks were not finished until after release.