Video game music (VGM) has dramatically evolved over the past three decades and has become a respected art form. It even has its own category at the Grammy Awards.
In February 2023, at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, composer Stephanie Economou won the first-ever 'Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media' after writing the score for the hit title Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok.
In 2024, Stephen Barton & Gordy Haab picked up the award for their soundtrack that was featured in the Star Wars Jedi: Survivor video game. Other notable composers who have helped change the face of VGM are Koji Kondo, Jeremy Soule, Nobuo Uematsu, and Yoko Shimomura, to name a few.
Let's dive straight in and take a closer look at how VGM has evolved over the years to the respected art form it is today.
Why is VGM important, and how has it evolved over the years? Music and sound effects have always played an important role in video games, and over the years, the music we listen to as we play our favourite hit titles has become even more powerful and important as the quality of the games has evolved.
Today, people often play their favourite graphically demanding
triple-A video games for several hours at a time. Music is used to set the tone, and a great score can significantly improve gameplay and impact how we interact with those games.
Epic accompanying background audio even features in today's best
online slots from several multi-award-winning iGaming software providers and game development studios, not just in the high-end games brought to us by Rockstar Games, Activision Blizzard, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Epic Games, and others.
The right kind of music can also enhance a player's experience and make their experience more immersive and memorable. The power of music in video games can also be likened to the effect it has on people who watch movies and television shows with epic scores.
Experts have even described VGM as one of contemporary music's most exciting new areas. Today, highly talented composers, full orchestras, and skilled musicians of all ages contribute to the amazing soundtracks and theme songs we hear in today's best games.
What are the most memorable songs ever made for video games? There are too many amazing songs to list here, so instead of listing all of the fantastic music ever used in some of the gaming industry's most successful titles, here are the names of just a few composers and songs that you may already be familiar with or might like to check out at some point:
• Video game: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Composer/songs: Jeremey Soul – Imperial Thorne, Dragonborn, From Past to Present, Death of Sovngarde, and others
• Video game: The Legend of Zelda. Composer/songs: Yasuaki Iwata, Manaka Kataoka, and Hajime Wakai – Guardian Battle, Mipha's Theme, Rito Village, and more
• Video game: The Last of Us. Composer/songs: Gustavo Santaolla – Vanishing Grace and The Path
• Video game: Dark Souls: Composer/songs: Motoi Sakuraba – Taurus Demon, Gwyn, Lord of Cinder, and Ornstein & Smough
Other notable tracks appear in games like
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (Sarah Schachner), Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Montaigne, Tripod & Austin Wintory), God of War: Ragnarok (Bear McCreary), and Hogwarts Legacy (Peter Murray, J Scott Rakozy & Chuck E. Myers).
Final thoughtsVideo game music has dramatically evolved over the years and has taken the online gaming experience to exciting new heights.
The music we listen to when playing games has become so well-respected that even the television show and movie adaptations of these games, such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Warcraft, Assassin's Creed, Final Fantasy, and countless others, use those same epic scores that featured in the video games.
