At the 67th Grammy Awards, the prestigious accolade for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media was awarded to Winifred Phillips for her exceptional work on Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. In her heartfelt acceptance speech, Phillips expressed gratitude towards developer Digital Eclipse and the audience, stating, "believing in music for games and recognizing it and for breathing life and enthusiasm and energy into what we do. It means so much."
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is a 3D remake of the pioneering 1981 medieval fantasy game, Wizardry, which is renowned as the first party-based video game RPG. This classic title has inspired iconic series such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. The modern rendition builds directly on the original game's code, offering players the unique ability to switch to the original Apple 2 interface during gameplay.
Phillips clinched the award amidst fierce competition from notable nominees such as Wilbert Roget, II for Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws, John Paesano for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Bear McCreary for God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla, and Pinar Toprak for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
In a subsequent interview, Phillips shared her astonishment at the win, saying, "I really didn’t expect it. The category was populated with so much brilliance this year, and I have so much deep respect for the other nominees in this category. So to have been recognized is just a highlight of my career. It truly is."
She further elaborated on the unique nature of composing for video games, noting, "We’re creating music that needs to accompany people who are having an experience and who are making choices, and having adventures and living a grand story, and we’re creating the music for that story. It’s such a wonderful privilege because you feel like you’re collaborating with the players. Like you know them and they know you. It’s really very special."
Past recipients of this esteemed award include Stephanie Economou for Ubisoft’s Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab for Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The first ever Grammy win for a video game soundtrack was for Baba Yetu, arranged by Christopher Tin for Firaxis’ Civilization 4, which took home the Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2011.
