Wikipedia

International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media

The International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media is an annual award given by the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA). Established in 2007, the award is given to the composer of a video game score based on two criteria: "the effectiveness, appropriateness and emotional impact of the score in the context of the film for which it was written; and the technical and intellectual merit of the composition when heard as a standalone listening experience."[1] The eligibility period runs January 1 through December 31 every year, and IFMCA members vote for the winner the following February.

International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media
Logo for the International Film Critics Association, parent organization that presents this award.
International Film Music Critics Association logo
First award2007
Most winsAustin Wintory
Most nominationsAustin Wintory

As of 2025, 71 composers and one band have been nominated for the International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media. The first award was given to John Debney for his work on the video game Lair. The most recent recipients was Gordy Haab for his work on the video game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Austin Wintory has been nominated eight times and won three; he is the only composer to have been nominated twice in the same year, which happened in 2016. Bear McCreary was nominated six times, while Olivier Deriviere and Neal Acree were each nominated five.

Winners and nominees

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In the tables below, winners are marked by a light green background and a double-dagger symbol (‡).

2000s

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John Debney (pictured in 2013) was the 2007 winner
 
James Hannigan (pictured in 2010) was the 2009 winner
Awards in the 2000s
Year Game/Interactive Media Composer(s) Compan(y/ies) Ref.
2007 Lair‡ John Debney Sony Computer Entertainment [2][3][4]
BioShock Garry Schyman 2K Games
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Stephen Barton
Harry Gregson-Williams (theme music) 		Activision
Medal of Honor: Airborne Michael Giacchino EA
Warhawk Christopher Lennertz
Tim Wynn 		Sony Computer Entertainment
2008 Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures‡ Knut Avenstroup Haugen Funcom
Eidos Interactive 		[5]
Afrika Wataru Hokoyama Sony Computer Entertainment (Japan)
Natsume Inc. (North American)
Gears of War 2 Steve Jablonsky Microsoft Game Studios
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames Chris Tilton EA
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Mark Griskey LucasArts
2009 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince‡ James Hannigan EA [6][7]
Assassin's Creed II Jesper Kyd Ubisoft
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Lorne Balfe
Hans Zimmer (theme music) 		Activision
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Chris Tilton Majesco Entertainment
Spore Hero Winifred Phillips EA

2010s

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Austin Wintory (pictured in 2019) was the 2012, 2015, and 2016 winner
 
Joe Hisaishi (pictured in 2011) was the 2011 winner and a 2018 nominee
 
Grant Kirkhope (pictured in 2024) was the 2014 winner
 
Patrick Doyle (pictured in 2016) was a 2013 nominee
 
Geoff Knorr (pictured in 2017) was a 2014 winner and 2015 nominee
Awards in the 2010s
Year Game/Interactive Media Composer(s) Compan(y/ies) Ref.
2010 Castlevania: Lords of Shadow‡ Óscar Araujo Konami [8][9]
Dark Void Bear McCreary Capcom
James Bond 007: Blood Stone Richard Jacques Activision
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole Winifred Phillips WB Games
Lego Universe Brian Tyler The Lego Group
2011 Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch‡ Joe Hisaishi Level-5 (company) (Japan)
Bandai Namco Entertainment 		[10]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Brian Tyler Activision
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Jeremy Soule Bethesda Softworks
L.A. Noire Andrew Hale
Simon Hale 		Rockstar Games
SOCOM 4 U.S. Navy SEALs Bear McCreary Sony Computer Entertainment
2012 Journey‡ Austin Wintory Sony Computer Entertainment
Annapurna Interactive (PC, iOS) 		[11]
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Grant Kirkhope 38 Studios
EA
Resistance: Burning Skies Jason Graves
Kevin Riepl 		Sony Computer Entertainment
Starhawk Christopher Lennertz Sony Computer Entertainment
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Neal Acree
Russell Brower
Sam Cardon
Edo Guidotti
Jeremy Soule 		Blizzard Entertainment
2013 Remember Me‡ Olivier Deriviere Capcom [12][13]
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Brian Tyler Ubisoft
Beyond: Two Souls Lorne Balfe Sony Computer Entertainment
Quantic Dream (PC)
Company of Heroes 2 Cris Velasco Sega
Feral Interactive (macOS, Linux)
Puppeteer Patrick Doyle Sony Computer Entertainment
2014 Civilization: Beyond Earth‡ Griffin Cohen
Michael Curren
Grant Kirkhope
Geoff Knorr 		2K Games
Aspyr (macOS, Linux) 		[14][15]
Assassin's Creed Unity Chris Tilton
Sarah Schachner 		Ubisoft
The Banner Saga Austin Wintory Versus Evil
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Óscar Araujo Konami
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor Neal Acree
Clint Bajakian
Russell Brower
Sam Cardon
Craig Stuart Garfinkle
Edo Guidotti
Eímear Noone 		Blizzard Entertainment
2015 Assassin's Creed Syndicate‡ Austin Wintory Ubisoft [16][17]
Civilization: Beyond Earth – Rising Tide Griffin Cohen
Grant Kirkhope
Geoff Knorr 		2K Games
Aspyr (macOS, Linux)
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture Jessica Curry Sony Computer Entertainment
Ori and the Blind Forest Gareth Coker Moon Studios
Revelation Neal Acree NetEase
2016 Abzû‡ Austin Wintory 505 Games [18][19][20]
The Banner Saga 2 Austin Wintory Versus Evil
The Dwarves Benny Oschmann THQ Nordic
The Last Guardian Takeshi Furukawa SIE
ReCore Chad Seiter Microsoft Studios
2017 Rime‡ David García Díaz Grey Box
Six Foot 		[21]
Deformers Austin Wintory GameTrust
Divide Chris Tilton —
Get Even Olivier Deriviere Bandai Namco Entertainment
Valkyria Revolution Yasunori Mitsuda Sega (North America, Japan)
Deep Silver (PAL region)
2018 God of War‡ Bear McCreary Sony Interactive Entertainment [22][23]
11-11: Memories Retold Olivier Deriviere Bandai Namco Entertainment
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom Joe Hisaishi Level-5 (company) (Japan)
Bandai Namco Entertainment
Spider-Man John Paesano Sony Interactive Entertainment
Torn Garry Schyman Aspyr
2019 Rend‡ Neal Acree Frostkeep Studios [24][25][26][27]
Days Gone Nathan Whitehead Sony Interactive Entertainment
Erica Austin Wintory Flavourworks
A Plague Tale: Innocence Olivier Deriviere Focus Home Interactive
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Stephen Barton
Gordy Haab 		EA

2020s

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Michael Giacchiano (pictured in 2017) was a 2020 winner and a 2007 nominee
 
Ilan Eshkeri (pictured in 2018) was a 2020 and a 2021 nominee
 
Neal Acree (pictured in 2015) was the 2019 and a 2023 winner
Awards in the 2020s
Year Game/Interactive Media Composer(s) Companies Ref.
2020 Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond‡ Michael Giacchino
Nami Melumad 		Respawn Entertainment
EA 		[28][29]
Ghost of Tsushima Ilan Eshkeri
Shigeru Umebayashi 		Sucker Punch Productions
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Ori and the Will of the Wisps Gareth Coker Moon Studios
Xbox Game Studios
The Pathless Austin Wintory Giant Squid
Annapurna Interactive
Star Wars: Squadrons Gordy Haab Motive Studios
EA
2021 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart‡ Mark Mothersbaugh
Wataru Hokoyama 		Insomniac Games
Sony Interactive Entertainment 		[30][31]
Ark: Genesis part II Gareth Coker Studio Wildcard
Call of Duty: Vanguard Bear McCreary Sledgehammer Games
Activision
Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island & Legends Chad Cannon
Bill Hemstapat
Ilan Eshkeri (theme music) 		Sucker Punch Productions
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Richard Jacques Eidos-Montréal
Square Enix
2022 God of War Ragnarök‡ Bear McCreary Santa Monica Studio
Sony Interactive Entertainment 		[32][33]
Cat Burglar Christopher Willis Netflix
The Faith of the Three Kingdoms Shigeru Umebayashi
Chad Cannon 		Ice Bird Studio
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope Yōko Shimomura
Grant Kirkhope
Gareth Coker 		Ubisoft Milan
Ubisoft Paris
Ubisoft
A Plague Tale: Requiem Olivier Derivière Asobo Studio
Focus Entertainment
2023 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora‡ Pinar Toprak
Neal Acree 		Massive Entertainment
Ubisoft 		[34][35]
God of War Ragnarök (Valhalla) Sparks & Shadows
Bear McCreary 		Santa Monica Studio
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Hogwarts Legacy Chuck Myers
Scott Rakozy
Peter Murray 		Avalanche Software
Warner Bros. Games
Planet of Lana Takeshi Furukawa Wishfully Studios
Thunderful Publishing
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Stephen Barton
Gordy Haab 		Respawn Entertainment
Electronic Arts
2024 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle‡ Gordy Haab MachineGames
Bethesda Softworks 		[36][37]
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Masashi Hamauzu
Mitsuto Suzuki 		Square Enix
Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok Rubén Melià Noxfall Studios
Quidditch Champions Cris Velasco Unbroken Studios
Warner Bros. Games
Star Wars: Outlaws Wilbert Roget II
Jon Everist
Kazuma Jinnouchi 		Massive Entertainment
Ubisoft

References

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  4. ^ "2007 Award Winners Announced by Intl Film Music Critics Association" (PDF). Film Music Weekly. 19 February 2008. pp. 1, 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  5. ^ "2008 IFMCA Awards". International Film Music Critics Association. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
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  8. ^ "2010 IFMCA Awards". International Film Music Critics Association. Archived from the original on 26 June 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
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  12. ^ "2013 IFMCA Awards". International Film Music Critics Association. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
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  18. ^ "2016 IFMCA Awards". International Film Music Critics Association. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  19. ^ Levy, Dani (9 February 2017). "'Arrival,' 'La La Land' Among Film Music Critics Nominees". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
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  23. ^ Flores, Marshall (7 February 2019). "15th Annual IFMCA Awards Nominations". AwardsDaily. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
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