God of War and LittleBigPlanet series composer wins a Grammy for the remake of a 44-year-old RPG that shaped Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and more

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Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord first released in 1981

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
(Image credit: Digital Eclipse)

Video game music is often timeless, and there's perhaps no greater recent example of that than this year's Grammy award winner of Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, which went to the composer for a remake of a 44-year-old RPG.

Composer Winifred Phillips has contributed the music for plenty of iconic games over the years, having been credited on God of War (2005), LittleBigPlanet 2, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and more. However, the game soundtrack she's just won a Grammy for is none other than Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord – specifically, the 2024 remake of a highly influential RPG which first released in 1981. 

As you might expect, Phillips' updated soundtrack sounds rather different to the original, but it's so damn good that it beat some very popular rivals for the award. Also nominated were Bear McCreary for God of War: Ragnarok's Valhalla DLC, John Paesano for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Wilbert Roget II for Star Wars Outlaws, and Pinar Toprak for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, making for a truly eclectic mix. 

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Of all the nominees, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord's roots certainly go back the furthest, and while the award might be for the remake's composer, it's very neat to give the series some credit here, especially when it had such an impact on RPGs in general. The series, which started with Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, is often credited as having helped shape the likes of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.