By Sagar V. Mankar 
The 67th Grammy Awards took place on Sunday, February 2, in Los Angeles, celebrating the finest achievements in music, including recordings, compositions, and artists. While the Grammys are traditionally known for honoring mainstream musicians, there is also a category dedicated to video game music—the “Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media” award, since 2023.
In a surprising and exciting turn of events, composer Winifred Phillips won this prestigious award for her work on Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord.
Phillips’ composition for the remake of the 1981 classic RPG beat out several high-profile contenders, including scores from “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora,” “God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla,” “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,” and “Star Wars Outlaws.”
With an impressive career in video game music, Phillips has worked on major titles such as God of War, LittleBigPlanet 2 and 3, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. While she has earned numerous accolades throughout her career—including a nomination for Best Original Soundtrack Album at The Game Audio Network Guild in 2021—this Grammy win marks a significant milestone, securing her first-ever victory at the prestigious awards.
During her acceptance speech, Phillips expressed heartfelt gratitude to Digital Eclipse, the development team behind the game’s 3D remake. “Thank you for believing in music for games and recognizing it, for breathing life, enthusiasm, and energy into what we do. It means so much,” she remarked.
Congrats Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media winner – ‘Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord’ Winifred Phillips. #GRAMMYs
ICYMI, rewatch the #GRAMMYPremiere Ceremony: https://t.co/lRVnSuiJNu pic.twitter.com/2X9Pde1cRc
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 5, 2025
The game itself holds a special place in video game history. Originally released in 1981, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is widely recognized as a groundbreaking title in the RPG genre, inspiring legendary franchises like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. The remake, while featuring modern 3D graphics and quality-of-life improvements, stays true to its roots by preserving the original Apple II interface as an optional feature.
This marks only the third year since the introduction of the Grammy category for video game music. Previous winners include Stephanie Economou for Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla in 2023, followed by Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor in 2024. Notably, renowned composer Bear McCreary—nominated all three years—has yet to claim a win in this category.
Following the victory, Digital Eclipse took to Twitter/x to announce that Phillips’ award-winning soundtrack is available for free download on her Bandcamp page, allowing fans and enthusiasts to experience the critically acclaimed music firsthand. Fans can also listen to it from the below post:
Wrath of the Wizard – Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (2024, PC/XB1/XBS/PS4/PS5/NSW)
Music by Winifred Phillips (@winphillips) pic.twitter.com/Qb3Sxnfrfc— 140 Seconds VGM (@140VGM) February 3, 2025