The First-Ever Video Game Grammys Have Some Questionable Choices
The video game nominees at the 2022 Grammys have been revealed, and they seem to have made some odd choices for the category's first year.
16th Nov 2022 10:28
Cold Iron Studios | Ubisoft | GRAMMYs
The First-Ever Video Game Grammys Have Some Questionable Choices
The video game nominees at the 2022 Grammys have been revealed, and they seem to have made some odd choices for the category's first year.
16th Nov 2022 10:28
Cold Iron Studios | Ubisoft | GRAMMYs
The Grammys revealing that it would be commending video games for their contributions to the world of music came as a huge relief.
It's about time the medium got some respect, with many still unconsciously refusing to acknowledge video game scores as "real music." The fact of the matter is that many composers that work behind the scenes on games are some of the best that music has.
We listed some of the games that deserved some historical recognition to prove it, but now that the first nominees have been revealed, maybe the Grammys have misunderstood the assignment.
What Video Games Were Nominated For The Grammys In 2022?
This year's Grammy nominations have been revealed, and along with them comes the first swathe of nominees for the new category Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other interactive media. And fans are a little confused.
You'll see what we mean - here are the nominees.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite
Austin Wintory, composer
Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn Of Ragnarok
Stephanie Economou, composer
Call Of Duty: Vanguard
Bear McCreary, composer
Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy
Richard Jacques, composer
Old World
Christopher Tin, composer
Fans are pretty confused as to when the cutoff for the awards was. It includes 2021 games Aliens: Fireteam Elite and Call of Duty: Vanguard, so we're pretty perplexed that Assassin's Creed's Dawn of Ragnarok made the list as a DLC pack for a game that launched in 2020.
With the last 12 months offering the likes of Tunic, Elden Ring and The Artful Escape, it's an interesting roster for sure - and fans aren't sure what to make of it. That's before we even get to God of War Ragnarok's rousing soundtrack missing out.
Fans React To Bizarre Grammy Nominations
Fans have taken to Twitter to express their confusion about where their favourite games are. Summing up what most of us are thinking, someone wrote, "Really cool to see video game scores get recognition at the Grammys. Have to say though, I am THOROUGHLY underwhelmed by the nominations."
Gamers are particularly perplexed on ResetEra, with one user commenting on the nominees saying, "No Neon White makes the whole thing invalid." Reasonable.
Another added, "GotG music was really cool, but bruh this list," while a third questioned, "So, the studios with enough money to pay for a Grammy FYC campaign got in. Cool, great system everyone."
The fact that video games are getting a look-in at the Grammys is great news alone, but damn, these nominees are strange. We'll take it for now, providing that Ragnarok gets what it deserves next year.
About The Author
Joseph Kime
Joseph Kime is the Senior Trending News Journalist for GGRecon from Devon, UK. Before graduating from MarJon University with a degree in Journalism, he started writing music reviews for his own website before writing for the likes of FANDOM, Zavvi and The Digital Fix. He is host of the Big Screen Book Club podcast, and author of Building A Universe, a book that chronicles the history of superhero movies. His favourite games include DOOM (2016), Celeste and Pokemon Emerald.
