Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok and its composer Stephanie Economou have won the first Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media.
This first award for the video game music category comes at the 65th Grammys, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok and Economou won over Austin Wintory and Aliens: Fireteam Elite, Bear McCreary and Call of Duty: Vanguard, Richard Jacques and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and Christopher Tin and Old World.
If you have yet to hear any of the music from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok or just want to listen again, here is a preview of the main theme from Ubisoft and a link to the full album on Spotify.
A main theme worthy of the All-Father himself. 🔥 @stepheconomou @ubisoftmusic
👉Stream the full album now: https://t.co/VtC4u8PbK5 #AssassinsCreed pic.twitter.com/oAPv7AcqkN
— Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) February 5, 2023
“I just want to recognize all of the people who fought tirelessly to bring this category of video game music into existence,” Economou said after she accepted the Grammy. “Thank you for acknowledging and validating the power of game music. This is truly such an honor, thank you.”
While this was the first time the Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media category was included in the Grammys, it isn’t the first time a video game has been nominated or won. In 2011, Christopher Tin’s Baba Yetu was the first song to be nominated and win a Grammy and it did so in the category of Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals.
In 2012, Austin Wintry and Journey were nominated for the Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media but lost out to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ work on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
In our review of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok, we said, “A fantastical setting and solid story can’t disguise the fact that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok has us running through the same motions as the main game a year and a half later.”
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.