The big picture: NME surveyed leading game composers on the forces reshaping video game music in 2026, from AI and the vinyl boom to indie’s creative edge over AAA.
- Austin Wintory argues AI is a “non-starter for most big publishers” given the legal questions around copyrighting generated music, adding “what I sell isn’t music, it’s the process by which we get there”
- Lena Raine (Celeste, Minecraft, Sackboy) says she pulled back to indie projects for the “space for experimentation and self-expression” that AAA studios increasingly lack
- Lorien Testard spent five years on the score for 2025’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, with Jesper Kyd (Hitman, Assassin’s Creed, Borderlands) and Richard Jacques also weighing in
- Recognition is catching up: the Grammys added a dedicated video game category in 2023, and the Ivor Novellos have announced a new ceremony celebrating game composers
- Read the full feature at NME ↗
Source: NME