The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in the United States held the 67th annual Grammy Awards ceremony. One of the winners was the remake of the first installment in the iconic Wizardry series.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Winifred Phillips, the composer for the Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord remake, took home the statue in the category "Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media." Competing for the award in this category were composers from Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and Star Wars Outlaws.
The Grammy organizers have been awarding soundtracks for video games as a special category since 2023. The first award was won by composer Stephanie Economou for her work on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök. In 2024, the award went to Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab, composers for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
The original Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was released way back in 1981. It was one of the first fantasy RPGs and had a significant impact on the genre, inspiring franchises such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.
The remake was released 43 years later, on May 23, 2024, for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. Currently, the game holds 80% positive reviews on Steam and scores between 73-82 out of 100 on Metacritic, depending on the platform.