British Academy Games Award for Music

The British Academy Video Games Award for Music is an award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). It is given to recognize "excellence in composition for a game music score, through original music and/or creative use of licensed track".^[1] The award is given to the composers/development team, the developer and the publisher of the winning game.

British Academy Games Award for Music
Awarded for	The best music for a video game
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Currently held by	God of War Ragnarök – Bear McCreary, Keith Leary, Peter Scaturro
Website	www.bafta.org/games

The award was first presented at the 1st British Academy Games Awards under the name Original Music. From the 3rd edition to the 7th, the category was named Original Score. It returned to its original name from the 8th to the 10th editions. Since the 11th edition it is presented under its current name. Santa Monica Studio and Sony Interactive Entertainment are the most awarded developer and publisher, with three and eight wins respectively. Among developers, Ubisoft Montreal holds the record for most nominations and most nominations without a win, with seven, while Xbox Game Studios is the most nominated publisher without a win, with nine. Bear McCreary, Keith Leary and Peter Scaturro are the only composers to win two BAFTA awards in this category, winning together for their work on the God of War franchise. Jesper Kyd and Lorne Balfe are the only composers with two nominations who have yet to win.

The current holders of the award are Bear McCreary, Keith Leary and Peter Scaturro, composers of God of War Ragnarök by Santa Monica Studio and Sony Interactive Entertainment, which won at the 19th British Academy Games Awards in 2023.

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years are listed as per BAFTA convention, and generally correspond to the year of game release in the United Kingdom.

Table key

Indicates the winner

Year	Game	Composer(s)	Developer(s)	Publisher(s)	Ref.
2002/03 (1st)	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Jeremy Soule	Argonaut	Electronic Arts	[2]
	Command & Conquer: Generals	Bill Brown and Mikael Sandgren	EA Pacific	EA Games
	Primal	Paul Arnold, Andrew Barnabas and 16Volt	SCE Studio Cambridge	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Republic: The Revolution	James Hannigan	Elixir Studios	Eidos Interactive
	TimeSplitters 2	Graeme Norgate	Free Radical Design
	Return to Castle Wolfenstein	Bill Brown	Gray Matter Studios	Activision
2003/04 (2nd)	Hitman: Contracts	Jesper Kyd	IO Interactive	Eidos Interactive	[3]
	Evil Genius	James Hannigan	Elixir Studios	Sierra Entertainment
	Fable	Danny Elfman and Russell Shaw	Big Blue Box Studios and Lionhead Studios	Microsoft Game Studios
	Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone	Robb Mills	Stormfront Studios and Zono	Atari
	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Jeremy Soule	Griptonite Games, KnowWonder and EA UK	Electronic Arts
	Rome: Total War	Jeff van Dyck	The Creative Assembly	Sega
2005/06 (3rd)	Tomb Raider: Legend	Troels Brun Folmann	Crystal Dynamics	Eidos Interactive	[4]
	Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King	Koichi Sugiyama	Level-5	Square Enix
	LocoRoco	Nobuyuki Shimizu and Kemmei Adachi	Japan Studio	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Shadow of the Colossus	Kow Otani	Japan Studio and Team Ico
	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	Jeremy Soule	Bethesda Game Studios	Bethesda Softworks
	The Movies	Daniel Pemberton	Lionhead Studios	Activision
2006/07 (4th)	Ōkami	Masami Ueda, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Rei Kondoh and Akari Groves	Clover Studio	Capcom	[5]
	Final Fantasy XII	Hitoshi Sakimoto, Hayato Matsuo and Masaharu Iwata	Square Enix
	God of War II	Gerard Marino, Ron Fish, Mike Reagan and Cris Velasco	Santa Monica Studio	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Lair	John Debney	Factor 5
	The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess	Toru Minegishi, Asuka Ohta	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo
	Viva Piñata	Grant Kirkhope	Rare	Microsoft Game Studios
2007/08 (5th)	Dead Space	Jason Graves, Don Veca	Visceral Games	Electronic Arts	[6][7]
	Assassin's Creed	Jesper Kyd	Ubisoft Montreal	Ubisoft
	Fable II	Danny Elfman, Russell Shaw	Lionhead Studios	Microsoft Game Studios
	Fallout 3	Inon Zur	Bethesda Game Studios	Bethesda Softworks
	LittleBigPlanet	Kenneth C M Young, Mat Clark, Daniel Pemberton	Media Molecule	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots	Harry Gregson-Williams, Nobuko Toda, Shuichi Kobori, Kazuma Jinnouchi	Konami
2009 (6th)	Uncharted 2: Among Thieves	Greg Edmonson, Carmen Rizzo	Naughty Dog	Sony Computer Entertainment	[8]
	Assassin's Creed II	Jesper Kyd	Ubisoft Montreal	Ubisoft
	Batman: Arkham Asylum	Nick Arundel, Ron Fish	Rocksteady Studios	Eidos Interactive and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2	Lorne Balfe, Hans Zimmer	Infinity Ward	Activision
	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	James Hannigan	EA Bright Light Studio	Electronic Arts
	PixelJunk Shooter	High Frequency, Bandwidth, Alex Paterson, Dom Beken	Q-Games and Double Eleven	Q-Games
2010 (7th)	Heavy Rain	Normand Corbeil	Quantic Dream	Sony Computer Entertainment	[9]
	Alan Wake	Petri Alanko	Remedy Entertainment	Microsoft Game Studios
	Fable III	Russell Shaw	Lionhead Studios
	James Bond 007: Blood Stone	Richard Jacques	Bizarre Creations	Activision
	Mass Effect 2	Jack Wall, Jimmy Hinson, Sam Hulick, David Kates	BioWare	Electronic Arts
	Super Mario Galaxy 2	Mahito Yokota, Ryo Nagamatsu, Koji Kondo	Nintendo EAD Tokyo	Nintendo
2011 (8th)	L.A. Noire	Andrew Hale, Simon Hale	Team Bondi	Rockstar Games	[10]
	Assassin's Creed: Revelations	Jesper Kyd, Lorne Balfe	Ubisoft Montreal	Ubisoft
	Batman: Arkham City	Nick Arundel, Ron Fish	Rocksteady Studios	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
	Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception	Greg Edmonson	Naughty Dog	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Deus Ex: Human Revolution	Michael McCann	Eidos Montréal	Square Enix
	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Jeremy Soule	Bethesda Game Studios	Bethesda Softworks
2012 (9th)	Journey	Austin Wintory	thatgamecompany	Sony Computer Entertainment	[11]
	Diablo III	Russell Brower, Derek Duke, Glenn Stafford	Blizzard Entertainment
	Assassin's Creed III	Lorne Balfe	Ubisoft Montreal	Ubisoft
	Thomas Was Alone	David Housden	Mike Bithell
	The Unfinished Swan	Joel Corelitz	Giant Sparrow and Santa Monica Studio	Sony Computer Entertainment
	The Walking Dead	Jared Emerson-Johnson	Telltale Games
2013 (10th)	BioShock Infinite	James Bonney and Garry Schyman	Irrational Games	2K Games	[12]
	Tearaway	Kenneth C M Young and Brian D'Oliveira	Tarsier Studios and Media Molecule	Sony Computer Entertainment
	The Last of Us	Gustavo Santaolalla	Naughty Dog
	Beyond: Two Souls	Lorne Balfe	Quantic Dream
	Super Mario 3D World	Mahito Yokota and Koji Kondo	Nintendo EAD Tokyo and 1-Up Studio	Nintendo
	Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag	Brian Tyler and Aldo Sampaio	Ubisoft Montreal	Ubisoft
2014 (11th)	Far Cry 4	Cliff Martinez, Tony Gronick and Jerome Angelot	Ubisoft Montreal	Ubisoft	[13][14]
	Alien: Isolation*		The Creative Assembly	Sega
	The Banner Saga	Austin Wintory	Stoic	Versus Evil
	Fantasia: Music Evolved	Inon Zur	Disney Interactive Studios and Harmonix Music Systems	Disney Interactive Studios
	Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor	Garry Schyman, Nathan Grigg	Monolith Productions	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
	The Sailor's Dream*		Simogo
2015 (12th)	Everybody's Gone to the Rapture	Jessica Curry	The Chinese Room and Santa Monica Studio	Sony Computer Entertainment	[15][16]
	Assassin's Creed Syndicate	Austin Wintory, Tripod and Bear McCreary	Ubisoft Quebec	Ubisoft
	Batman: Arkham Knight	Nick Arundel and David Buckley	Rocksteady Studios	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
	Fallout 4	Inon Zur	Bethesda Game Studios	Bethesda Softworks
	Halo 5: Guardians	Kazuma Jinnouchi, Nobuko Toda and Peter Cobbin	343 Industries	Microsoft Studios
	Ori and the Blind Forest	Gareth Coker	Moon Studios
2016 (13th)	Virginia	Lyndon Holland	Variable State	505 Games	[17][18]
	Doom	Mick Gordon, Chris Hite, Chad Mossholder	id Software	Bethesda Softworks
	Abzû	Austin Wintory	Giant Squid Studios	505 Games
	Inside	Martin Stig Andersen, Søs Gunver Ryberg	Playdead
	The Last Guardian	Takeshi Furukawa	Japan Studio and GenDesign	Sony Interactive Entertainment
	Uncharted 4	Henry Jackman, Jonathan Mayer, Scott Hanau	Naughty Dog
2017 (14th)	Cuphead	Kristofer Maddigan	StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc.		[19]
	Get Even*		The Farm 51	Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe
	Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice	David Garcia Diaz, Andy LaPlegua	Ninja Theory
	Horizon Zero Dawn*		Guerrilla Games	Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*		Nintendo EPD	Nintendo
	What Remains of Edith Finch	Jeff Russo	Giant Sparrow	Annapurna Interactive
2018 (15th)	God of War	Bear McCreary, Keith Leary, Peter Scaturro	Santa Monica Studio	Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe	[20]
	Celeste	Lena Raine	Matt Makes Games
	Far Cry 5*		Ubisoft Montreal	Ubisoft
	Florence*		Mountains	Annapurna Interactive
	Gris*		Nomada Studio	Devolver Digital
	Tetris Effect	Hydelic, Noboru Mutoh, Takako Ishida	Monstars and Resonair	Enhance Games
2019 (16th)	Disco Elysium	British Sea Power	ZA/UM		[21][22]
	Control	Petri Alanko, Martin Stig Andersen	Remedy Entertainment	505 Games
	Death Stranding	Ludvig Forssell, Peter Scaturro, Keith Leary	Kojima Productions	Sony Interactive Entertainment
	Outer Wilds*		Mobius Digital	Annapurna Interactive
	The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening*		Grezzo	Nintendo
	Wattam	Asuka Takahashi, Brad Fotsch, Sam Bird	Funomena	Annapurna Interactive
2020 (17th)	Spider-Man: Miles Morales	John Paesano, Scott Hanau, Alex Hackford	Insomniac Games	Sony Interactive Entertainment	[23][24]
	Ghost of Tsushima	Ilan Eshkeri, Shigeru Umebayashi, Peter Scaturro	Sucker Punch Productions	Sony Interactive Entertainment
	The Last of Us Part II	Gustavo Santaolalla, Mac Quayle, Scott Hanau	Naughty Dog
	Sackboy: A Big Adventure	Jay Waters, Joe Thwaites, Joanna Skorupa	Sumo Digital
	Hades	Darren Korb	Supergiant Games
	Ori and the Will of the Wisps	Gareth Coker	Moon Studios	Xbox Game Studios
2021 (18th)	Returnal	Bobby Krlic, Joe Thwaites, Harry Krueger	Housemarque	Sony Interactive Entertainment	[25][26]
	Deathloop	Tom Salta, Erich Talaba, Ross Tregenza	Arkane Studios	Bethesda Softworks
	Far Cry 6*		Ubisoft Toronto	Ubisoft
	Halo Infinite	Gareth Coker, Joel Corelitz, Curtis Schweitzer	343 Industries	Xbox Game Studios
	Psychonauts 2	Peter McConnell	Double Fire
	Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart	Scott Hanau, Wataru Hokoyama, Mark Mothersbaugh	Insomniac Games	Sony Interactive Entertainment
2022 (19th)	God of War Ragnarök	Bear McCreary, Keith Leary, Peter Scaturro	Santa Monica	Sony Interactive Entertainment	[27][28]
	Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course	Kristofer Maddigan	Studio MDHR
	Elden Ring*		FromSoftware	Bandai Namco
	A Plague Tale: Requiem	Olivier Deriviere	Asobo	Focus
	Stray*		BlueTwelve	Annapurna Interactive
	Tunic	Lifeformed, Janice Kwan	Finji
2023 (20th)	Baldur's Gate 3	Borislav Slavov	Larian Studios		[29][30]
	Alan Wake 2		Remedy Entertainment	Epic Games
	Assassin's Creed Mirage		Ubisoft Bordeaux	Ubisoft
	Marvel's Spider-Man 2	John Paesano, Scott Hanau, Keith Leary	Insomniac Games	Sony Interactive Entertainment
	Star Wars Jedi: Survivor	Gordy Haab, Stephen Barton	Respawn Entertainment	Electronic Arts
	The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom		Nintendo
2024 (21st)
	Helldivers 2	Wilbert Roget II, Ross Tregenza, Keith Leary	Arrowhead Game Studios	Sony Interactive Entertainment	[31][32]
	Astro Bot	Kenneth CM Young	Team Asobi	Sony Interactive Entertainment
	Black Myth: Wukong		Game Science
	Final Fantasy VII Rebirth		Square Enix
	Senua's Saga: Hellblade II		Ninja Theory	Xbox Game Studios
	Star Wars Outlaws	Wilbert Roget II, Simon Koudriavtsev, Erik Jacobsson	Massive Entertainment	Ubisoft

(*Note: Games that don't have composers on the table had Development Team credited on the awards page.)

Multiple nominations and wins

Composers

Developer	Nominations	Wins
Peter Scaturro	4	2
Jeremy Soule	4	1
Austin Wintory	4	1
Scott Hanau	4	1
Jesper Kyd	4	0
Lorne Balfe	4	0
Bear McCreary	3	2
Keith Leary	3	2
Inon Zur	3	0
Gareth Coker	3	0
James Hannigan	3	0
Ron Fish	2	0
Russell Shaw	3	0
Nick Arundel	2	0
Garry Schyman	2	1
Greg Edmonson	2	1
Kristofer Maddigan	2	1
Joe Thwaites	2	1
Gustavo Santaolalla	2	0
Bill Brown	2	0
Daniel Pemberton	2	0
Danny Elfman	2	0
Joel Corelitz	2	0
Kenneth Young	2	0
Koji Kondo	2	0
Mahito Yokota	2	0
Martin Stig Andersen	2	0
Kazuma Jinnouchi	2	0
Nobuko Toda	2	0
Petri Alanko	2	0

Developers

Developer	Nominations	Wins
Ubisoft Montreal	7	0
Naughty Dog	5	1
Santa Monica Studio	5	3
Bethesda Studios	4	0
Lionhead Studios	4	0
Nintendo EAD/EPD	4	0
Japan Studio	3	0
Rocksteady Studios	3	0
343 Industries	2	0
The Creative Assembly	2	0
Elixir Studios	2	0
Giant Sparrow	2	0
Insomniac Games	2	1
Media Molecule	2	0
Moon Studios	2	0
Quantic Dream	2	0
Remedy Entertainment	2	0

Publishers

Developer	Nominations	Wins
Sony Computer/Interactive Entertainment	27	8
Ubisoft	9	1
Microsoft/Xbox Game Studios	9	0
Bethesda Softworks	6	0
Electronic Arts	5	1
Annapurna Interactive	5	0
Nintendo	5	0
Activision	4	0
Eidos Interactive	4	1
Warner Bros Interactive	4	0
505 Games	3	1
Bandai Namco Entertainment	2	0
Sega	2	0
Square Enix	2	0

See also

• Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media