Winifred Phillips Wins Grammy for Best Video Game Soundtrack

At the 67th Grammy Awards, composer Winifred Phillips won the prestigious Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media for her work on "Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord." In her acceptance speech, Phillips expressed gratitude towards developer Digital Eclipse and the audience, emphasizing the importance of their belief in game music. She said, "Thank you for 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 seminal 1981 game, considered the first party-based video game RPG. This groundbreaking title influenced major series like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. The remake is built directly on the original game's code, allowing players to experience the classic Apple 2 interface during gameplay.

Winifred Phillips at the 67th Grammy Awards. Photo by Rich Polk/Billboard via Getty Images.

Phillips's win was particularly notable as she triumphed over strong competition, including Wilbert Roget, II for "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 expressed 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 elaborated on the unique nature of composing for video games, stating, "We do a very unique thing. 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 award include Stephanie Economou for "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" and Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab for "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor." The first video game music to win a Grammy in any category was "Baba Yetu" by Christopher Tin for "Civilization 4," which took home Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2011.