The first ever Grammy for a video game soundtrack has been won by Stephanie Economou’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök score.
The debut category for the 65th Grammy Awards, Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, saw Valhalla nominated alongside the likes of Aliens: Fireteam Elite (Austin Wintory), Call of Duty: Vanguard (Bear McCreary), Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (Richard Jacques), and Old World (Christopher Tin).
© Ubisoft
Not restricted solely to video games, the category description was: “Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, video games and other interactive media.”
"I feel kind of shocked," Economou said after receiving the award. "I'm amazed because this is the first year that this category exists so it's big. It's a big thing, and I just feel very validated by this community. I'm beyond grateful to be here."
The third of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s expansions, Dawn of Ragnarök sees protagonist Eivor embrace their destiny to become the norse god Odin and embark on a divine quest to save their son.
In case you want to hear the award-winning music for yourself, we’ve embedded Economou’s 50-minute soundtrack to the expansion below, available courtesy of the Ubisoft Music YouTube channel. You can also check it out on Spotify if that’s more your style.
The introduction of games to the long-running awards show didn’t exactly come without its troubles, however. At the key moment, host Randy Rainbow had just a little difficulty announcing the name of the winning title.
Minor slip ups aside, let’s hope that video game soundtracks and their composers continue to receive increased recognition from traditional awards shows. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is available on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, with the Dawn of Ragnarök expansions accessed through individual purchase of via the game’s season pass.