Assassin’s Creed Valhalla just made history as the first-ever video game to win a Grammy as composer Stephania Economou was handed the golden trophy during the 2023 awards show.
While the Grammy awards have long recognized musical contributions from all manner of genres, industries, and the like, video games have largely been swept under the rug over the past few decades.
Just one game, 2012’s indie hit Journey, had ever been nominated for a Grammy award until the 2023 nominations were revealed. This time around, five games were honored for the ‘Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media’ category, but only one could win.
Beating the likes of CoD Vanguard and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, composer Stephanie Economou was announced as the winner on February 5 for her work on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, specifically, the Dawn of Ragnarok expansion.
As the first to receive a Grammy on the back of work in the video game industry, Economou recognized those who came before her, thanking many talented musicians that have dedicated themselves to the space in past generations.
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“All of the people who fought tirelessly to bring this category into existence, thank you for acknowledging and validating the power of game music,” Economou said in her acceptance speech.
While her experience in the gaming landscape is fairly limited, Economou has worked on a wide assortment of popular and critically acclaimed films in recent years. From The Martian and The Meg to Jupiter’s Legacy and The Chair, she’s quickly become a prominent name.
Now making history through the final Assassin’s Creed Valhalla expansion, there’s every chance we see Economou returning to compose the soundtrack for another video game in the near future.
