Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok music composer Stephanie Economou has won the first ever Grammy award of its kind. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed was the first-ever winner in the new Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media award.
This is the first award in the category coming at the 65th Grammys, and composer Economou was the only woman nominated for that category. Economou and Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok emerged victorious after stiff competition with Christopher Tin and Old World, Bear McCreary and Call of Duty: Vanguard, Austin Wintory and Aliens: Fireteam Elite, and Richard Jacques and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
While the Grammy Award was the first of its kind, it wasn't the first award to a piece of game music. In 2022, the Meta Knight's Revenge by the 8-Bit Big Band received a Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella award. In 2011, Christopher Tin's Civilization 4 (Baba Yetu) song was awarded through the Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals category.
Now composer Economou joins the list of game composers who've clinched Grammys, and we hope she'll be editing that part of her Twitter bio that says "Non-award-winning composer."
When she took to the stage to accept the DLC award, Economou could not hide her joy, thanking Ubisoft and music supervisor Simon Landry for "inviting me into the rich, rich legacy of Assassin's Creed." She also appreciated fellow team members who helped improve the music's score, as well as her family for their unwavering support. Economou could not forget "all of the people who fought tirelessly" to see a category created for video game music. You can see the entire moment Economou received the Grammy Award and her acceptance speech in the video below.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Dawn of Ragnarok DLC was released in March of 2022 and was dubbed as "the most ambitious expansion in the history of the franchise." If you have yet to hear the music from Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarokexpansion or simply want to hear it again, you can check out the full album on Spotify.