Team Ico pitched Shadow of the Colossus to Sony with placeholder music from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man: "Later on, we found out that was actually the theme music"

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"We probably violated some usage rights"

To impress PlayStation's bosses, Team Ico used a Hollywood-style score to pitch Shadow of the Colossus—a score they would later learn belonged to a Sam Raimi Spider-Man film.

Shadow of the Colossus is perhaps best known for its massive sense of scale. While Ico was an insular and quite lonely game, its follow-up felt huge and cinematic (while retaining its loneliness). A major part of this was due to its score, which would always come in at the right time to make you feel heroic, even if the actual acts you were performing were a little more in the grey area.

Speaking to Design Room as part of their "Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history" article, former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden has revealed that the music for Shadow of the Colossus' first pitch was really memorable, although it never appeared in the final game. Much like the final game, which swells the music at the right time to become something incredibly cinematic and film-like, this original pitch had what felt like a massive Hollywood blockbuster score… Mainly because it was.

NICO TRIAL MOVIE WITH ORIGINAL OST - Shadow of the Colossus - YouTube NICO TRIAL MOVIE WITH ORIGINAL OST - Shadow of the Colossus - YouTube
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Scott McCrae
Scott McCrae
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Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.

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