Composer Stephanie Economou has won a Grammy Award for the soundtrack of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök. Now there's no question that a lot of video games have actually won Grammys in previous years. What makes this one special is that the win is for the new category Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media.
For this new dedicated category, the award recognizes excellence in score soundtrack albums composed mainly of original scores, and created specifically for a current video game or as a companion to a video game.
Other nominees in the category included Bear McCreary (Call of Duty: Vanguard), Richard Jacques (Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy), Christopher Tin (Old World), and Austin Wintory (Aliens: Fireteam Elite).
Economou became involved with the Dawn of Ragnarök after her name came up during a discussion on the score for expansion. At that time, she was the one who scored The Siege of Paris for Valhalla. By now, it's clear that the decision to give her the reins of the soundtrack was a good one.
As a background, Economou is a composer and violinist based in Los Angeles with an extended experience in film and television, scoring various types from drama to action to comedy. Her work includes the Netflix series Jupiter’s Legacy along with the Lionsgate/Starz series Step Up High Water. Along with Golden Globe-nominated composer Harry Gregson-Williams, she composed additional music on various scores like Disney’s Mulan and even Ridley Scott's Oscar-nominated film The Martian.
Economou serves as a resident board member for the Alliance for Women Film Composers. She is the first and only woman nominated in the new Grammy category.
In an interview by Brittany Spurlin, Economou revealed that the Video Game Music category is not only extremely significant but also well overdue. She added that by having a category exclusive to games and interactive media soundtracks, it validates their collective influence on the musical landscape and being able to meaningfully connect with audiences everywhere.
She also said that she hopes that developers continue to push the boundaries on how the audience experience storytelling since it moves the musical possibilities in both new and unexpected directions.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök was released in March 2022 and has been the biggest expansion in the Assassin's Creed franchise to date. The game is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
