The 52 best video game music composers and producers are responsible for composing original music, including single tracks and whole soundtracks, for video games. Video game music composers and producers create soundscapes that make a game as iconic as its characters, story, and gameplay. Without music, a game feels empty and emotionless. Music drives home heart-wrenching scenes and terrifying bosses. Even when someone has never played a specific game before, such as Super Mario Bros., they still recognize its main theme and understand the game’s emotional tone immediately. In this way, game music is capable of making a stronger impression than the gameplay itself.
Creating an iconic soundtrack or song isn’t easy, however. A successful video game score or track is what separates legendary video game music composers from the rest. From iconic composers who made music for Nintendo, Namco, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Sega, and so much more, read on to discover the 52 best video game music composers and producers who have left their mark in gaming history forever.
1. Takashi Tateishi
Takashi Tateishi, also known as Ogeretsu Kun, is a composer and sound designer who most notably worked for Capcom and Konami. Tateishi was born on November 23, 1965, and although he initially studied economics at university, he had an interest in music, too. He played keyboards in bands and started composing simple music in his teens. While he was composing music, particularly multitrack recording, he began working at an advertising agency. Takashi wasn’t satisfied with the work, so when the opportunity came to apply to Capcom as a composer, he put in his name and got the job.
At Capcom, Tateishi’s first project was Mad Gear, also known as LED Storm. With the success of his music on Mad Gear, Capcom tapped him to compose for Mega Man 2. Tateishi composed the main, ending, and stage-clear themes for the game. Although he composed for Capcom for several years, he eventually moved to Konami where he worked as a composer, sound producer, and project manager.
While Takashi Tateishi worked for Konami, Tateishi composed music for the game Tokimeki Memorial. In his role as a sound producer, Tateishi worked on the Metal Gear and Silent Hill series, helping other composers arrange tracks for the franchises.
2. Setsuo Yamamoto
Setsuo Yamamoto is a video game composer who has worked primarily with Capcom on projects such as Mega Man X, Final Fight 2, and various Street Fighter Alpha entries. Yamamoto was born on September 17, 1971 in Japan, where he quickly developed an interest in music and composing. He joined Capcom in the early 1990s initially as part of the console sound team. The SNES era was booming at this time, prompting Yamamoto to work in the console division for several years before transitioning into sound management and coordination roles, such as sound director and manager. However, he was able to compose among his other job titles, on games such as Mega Man X and Final Fight 2.
Setsuo Yamamoto’s music in Mega Man X and Final Fight 2 is known for its high-energy rock-inspired sound. Fans consider his work on the two titles as the defining example of Capcom’s well-known rock-heavy tracks for its arcade-like or fighting games. Yamamoto later worked as a mixing engineer on other titles, such as Resident Evil 5, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and Devil May Cry 5.
3. Jeremy Soule
Jeremy Soule is an American music composer best known for working with Bethesda, ArenaNet, Relic Entertainment, and Electronic Arts. Soule was born on December 19, 1975 in Iowa and had an interest in orchestral music from an early age. He started to compose music as a child, and then got his first major break in the mid-1990s with Squaresoft. Through Squaresoft, Soule composed his first game, Secret of Evermore, for the SNES. However, it’s his music in The Elder Scrolls series for which he’s renowned.
When Jeremy Soule joined Bethesda, he composed for the games The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Soule later brought his well-known style to Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. Despite these hit games, It was early in his career that Soule won a BAFTA Games Award for Best Score for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. He composed for the other early EA Harry Potter games: The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and Quidditch World Cup.
4. Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu is a video game composer who created the music behind much of the Final Fantasy series from Square Enix. Uemastu was born on March 21, 1959 in Japan and taught himself how to play the piano when he was young. Although he studied English at Kanagawa University, his interest rested with music, which he satisfied by playing in amateur bands as a keyboardist. He continued to pursue music by making jingles for commercials, but eventually received the chance to collaborate with Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi at Square Enix.
During Nobuo Uematsu’s career with Square Enix, he was given the task of composing music for a new IP, Final Fantasy. His music, and the game, were such a hit that he continued to work on several sequels the series produced, including Final Fantasy II to IX. Some of his most famous compositions include “Prelude,” “One-Winged Angel,” and “Aerith’s Theme.” In 2003, he formed the rock band, The Black Mages, and arranged the Final Fantasy battle themes into a rock style, playing the variants of these songs at various concerts and music venues.
5. Yasunori Mitsuda
Yasunori Mitsuda is a video game composer known for composing music for the Chrono, Xeno, and Shadow Hearts series. Mitsuda was born on January 21, 1972 in Japan. He got his professional start as a sound effects designer for Square, later known as Square Enix, in 1992, where he created audio for Final Fantasy V and Secret of Mana. Mitsuda wasn’t satisfied working as a SFX designer, however. He wanted to compose music and demanded that Hironobu Sakaguchi give him the chance. Sakaguchi did just that, assigning him to compose Chrono Trigger’s soundtrack in 1995.
Chrono Trigger was a success, and because Yasunori Mitsuda impressed Sakaguchi, he was given the opportunity to compose for another major series, Xenogears. For Xenogears, Mitsuda focused on composing epic and narrative-driven music. Although the music for Xenogears was beloved by fans, Mitsuda wasn’t satisfied sticking to one music style. When his next project came, the Shadow Hearts series, he contributed tracks to the soundtrack that blended a unique mix of punk, techno, electronic rock, new wave industrial rock, and orchestra.
6. Yoko Shimomura
Yoko Shimomura is a video game composer behind the music for Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XV. Shimomura was born on October 19, 1967 in Japan, and she began taking piano lessons at the age of four. Her love for music followed into her young adult life when she graduated from Osaka College of Music. Initially, Shimomura planned to teach music, but she got involved with video games after auditioning for Capcom in 1988. Although Shimomura initially worked for Capcom, her greatest soundtracks came from her time with Square Enix.
At Square Enix, Yoko Shimomura composed what is largely considered her most celebrated work for Kingdom Hearts. She composed “Dearly Beloved,” and managed to blend familiar Disney themes with new orchestral works. I was one of the many fans who fell in love with Kingdom Heart’s music, even ripping the MP3 tracks off YouTube to listen to them. The Kingdom Hearts soundtrack moved me so much that I learned how to play “Hollow Bastion” on the piano in college, and even used it as my qualification piece for my college’s piano recital competition.
Kingdom Hearts wasn’t the only project that Yoko Shimomura worked on at Square Enix. She composed the music for Final Fantasy XV, too. Her tracks included hits such as “Somnus” and “Apocalypsis Noctis.” For her incredible work, Shimomura received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2025, becoming the first video game composer to earn the award.
7. Yuzo Koshiro
Yuzo Koshiro is a video game composer and sound programmer who is best known for working on the Y series and Streets of Rage series. Koshiro was born on December 12, 1967 in Japan, where he learned how to play the piano at around three years old, and then violin at five years old. He was hired by Nihon Falcom in 1986 after he sent in a demo tape. While working for Nihon Falcom, he composed the music for the Ys Series, including Ys I and Ys II.
Yuzo Koshiro eventually moved to Sega, where he began to compose for the Streets of Rage series. He chose to use a blend of techno, house, and jungle rhythms for most of the tracks. Koshiro used his own invention, an automated composing system he made himself, to achieve the unique blend and music. Some fans claim that the blend influenced modern electronica.
8. Akira Yamaoka
Akira Yamaoka is a video game composer, sound producer, and musician behind the chilling music in the Silent Hill series. Yamaoka was born on February 6, 1968 in Japan, and his career in music didn’t start off early in his life. He first studied product and interior design at Tokyo Art College, but he had been part of a punk rock band in high school. When college didn’t fulfill him, Yamoaka started freelancing as a musician and composer instead. In 1993, Yamaoka got his big professional break by joining Konami and composing for games such as Sparkster and Contra: Hard Corps.
When a new project called Silent Hill came up, Akira Yamaoka volunteered to work on it. He handled the composition, sound design, and production across the Silent Hill series. He even contributed to the film adaptation of Silent Hill’s score. Some of the most well-known tracks include “Theme of Laura,” “Promise (Reprise),” and “White Noiz.”
9. Michiru Yamane
Michiru Yamane is a video game composer who composed the iconic music in the Castlevania series from Konami. Yamane began her music career early, taking piano lessons as a child and even composing her first song at 11 years old. She took her love of music with her to study at Aichi Prefectural University of the Arts. Shortly after graduating, she joined Konami as part of the Konami Kukeiha Club. Her early work with the studio included games such as King’s Valley II and Ganbare Goemon 2.
Michiru Yamane’s breakthrough was in 1994, when she composed for Castlevania: Bloodlines. Castlevania became such a success that it allowed her to compose for several of its sequels, such as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, and many more. Because of her signature baroque and gothic influences in her music, she was approached to compose for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which was headed up by Koji Igarashi, the producer for many of the Castlevania games.
10. Jesper Kyd
Jesper Kyd is a Danish composer and sound designer who composed the music in the Assassin’s Creed series and Hitman series. Kyd has a long music career in games, beginning with the Amiga demoscene with a group called Silents DK. The group created the music for demos such as Hardwired and Global Trash 2. With the success of the Silents DK, Kyd co-founded Zyrinx, where he started composing music for several Sega Genesis games, such as Sub-Terrania, Red Zone, Amon, and The Adventures of Batman & Robin. When the studio closed, he moved to New York City and began working as a freelance composer.
Jesper Kyd eventually started composing for Ubisoft, working on the Assassin’s Creed series, which launched his style of music to the masses. Besides the major Assassin’s Creed titles, he composed for Assassin’s Creed Chronicles and Rogue. Although he didn’t win any awards for his music in Assassin’s Creed, Jesper Kyd won a BAFTA Games Award for Best Original Music for Hitman: Contracts in 2005.
11. Koji Kondo
Koji Kondo is a video game composer and senior executive at Nintendo, who is known for creating music for the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series. Kondo was born on August 13, 1961 in Japan and began learning how to play the electronic organ at five years old. He studied at Osaka University of Arts and joined a jazz and rock cover band until he joined Nintendo in 1984 as its first dedicated composer. His first work for Nintendo was Punch-Out!! as a sound effect designer, while his first music composition was for the game, Devil World.
Koji Kondo achieved acclaim for his “Super Mario Bros.” theme in the 1985 game of the same name. The theme song is so famous that it’s now part of the U.S. National Recording Registry. While Kondo is well-known for his theme music in Super Mario 64, Super Mario 3, and so on, he made the iconic soundtrack for The Legend of Zelda. Kondo composed the “Overworld” theme, “Hyrule Field,” “Gerudo Valley,” and “Song of Healing,” to name a few. His beloved songs landed him with a 2024 induction into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.
12. Gareth Coker
Gareth Coker is a British video game composer and producer who worked on the Ori series and Ark: Survival Evolved. Coker first started playing the piano when he was young, and eventually studied music composition at the Royal Academy of Music. His path took him down a teaching career for a while, where he taught English in Japan and studied Japanese instruments. Coker returned to school, studying film scoring at the University of Southern California. Despite studying for film music, he got into video game composition, with Ori and the Blind Forest being one of his first major projects.
Gareth Coker won several awards with Ori and the Blind Forest, including the Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition D.I.C.E. award. Coker’s work on Ori and the Will of the Wisps garnered award attention, receiving the Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Video Game Score. Besides the Ori series, Coker composed the main theme for Ark: Survival Evolved, which was recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
13. Grant Kirkhope
Grant Kirkhope is a Scottish video game composer and voice actor who made music for GoldenEye 007 and Donkey Kong 64. Kirkhope was born on July 10, 1962 in Scotland, but he moved to England and studied the trumpet at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Before he started working in the video game industry, Kirkhoe played in bands such as Zoot and the Roots and the Big Bad Horns. The bands saw some success, opening for talent such as Van Halen and Bon Jovi. In 1995, Kirkhope turned his attention to video games, joining Rare and scoring several popular N64-era games.
Grant Kirkhope and Graeme Norgate, who composed the soundtrack for the 1997 GoldenEye 007 game, had a lot of creative freedom when it came to making music. Kirkhope primarily focused on blending the well-known Bond theme with new music tracks. Because of cartridge limitations at the time, Kirkhope and Norgate had to compose music in small memory chunks. The process included recording samples, resampling them until they were low-quality due to memory constraints, and then writing the music with the samples.
Donkey Kong 64 is another well-known title that Grant Kirkhope composed for. While the DK Rap idea was originated by director George Andreas, Kirkhope ran with the idea and remixed it with music influenced by Run-DMC and other rappers for other tracks. Kirkhope assigned certain instruments to each character, too. Donkey Kong played the trumpet, Diddy played the guitar, and Chunky played the drums.
14. David Wise
David Wise is a British video game composer who is best known for his work on Donkey Kong Country, and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. Wise got involved in the video game music industry after being hired by Rare in 1985, which was then known as Ashby Computers and Graphics. Rare hired him after Wise demonstrated his talent on a Yamaha CX5 computer. He served as Rare’s sole composer until 1994.
David Wise’s most well-known compositions are in Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. In Donkey Kong Country, Wise collaborated with Eveline Fischer and Robin Beanland, but handled most of the compositions himself. However, for Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest, Wise composed nearly the entire soundtrack on his own. Some of his most famous tracks include, “Stickerbrush Symphony,” “Forest Interlude,” and “Mining Melancholy.”
15. Toby Fox
Toby Fox is a video game composer, developer, and writer who created and composed music for Undertale and Deltarune. Fox began his career in game development with RPG Maker and ROM hacks such as EarthBound Halloween Hack back in 2008. He later gained recognition for composing music for Homestuck, a webcomic. He later composed songs for titles such as Pokémon Scarlet/Violet and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate after working on his solo project, Undertale.
Toby Fox composed the music for Undertale and Deltarune, with the former using chiptune and sparse instrumentation to harken back to the NES music days, and the latter using more dynamic percussion and brass instrumentation. Fox used FL Studio to arrange and mix the music, although he first created the melodies with his piano. I enjoyed the soundtrack for Undertale, and it inspired me to learn about retro sound VSTS such as Roland. I even learned how to play Bergentrückung and Megalovania on the piano, although Megalovania hurts my hands to play to this day.
16. Martin O’Donnell
Martin O’Donnell is an American video game composer known primarily for his work with Bungie, including games such as the Halo series, Myth series, and Destiny. O’Donnell was born on May 1st, 1955 and earned a Master of Music degree in Composition from the University of Southern California. His career in music started with writing commercial jingles for Flintstones Chewable Vitamins and Mr. Clean. In 1997, O’Donnell switched into making video game music by joining Riven as a sound designer.
Martin O’Donnell wanted to work in music instead of as a sound designer, so he cold-called Bungie and received an external contract for Myth II. He composed a hit soundtrack, which led Bungie to permanently hire him. From 2000 to 2014, he worked on several projects with Bungie, such as Halo, in which he created the iconic main theme song. One of his last projects with Bungie was Destiny, in which he recorded the soundtrack at Abbey Road Studios alongside Paul McCartney.
17. Hitoshi Sakimoto
Hitoshi Sakimoto is a Japanese video game composer and sound producer, best known for his work on Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII, and Vagrant Story. Sakimoto was born on February 26, 1969 in Japan. At the age of 16, Sakimoto was already composing music professionally, debuting in 1988 with the shooter game Revolter. His career really took off after composing music for Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, in which Square, now known as Square Enix, took notice of him and hired him for a few projects.
Hitoshi Sakimoto worked for Square from 1998 to 2000, where he first composed the music for Final Fantasy Tactics, alongside Masaharu Iwata. Square enjoyed his music so much that Sakimoto was given the lead on composing for Final Fantasy XII. There was a different game, however, that Sakimoto enjoyed working on the most at Square. Vagrant Story is one of his personal favorites because its eccentric and synth-heavy tracks allowed him to get creative with the soundtrack.
18. Austin Wintory
Austin Wintory is an American video game composer who created music for Journey and ABZÛ. Wintory was born on September 9th, 1984 and began composing at the age of 10. He was heavily inspired by Jerry Goldsmith’s film scores, and he wanted to follow in his footsteps, attending New York University and USC. Most of his early career work was spent composing music for independent films and indie games. His breakthrough came when he joined thatgamecompany’s new title, Journey.
Journey reached high acclaim among critics and players, and Austin Wintory’s soundtrack is a major reason behind it. He composed the music in such a way that it supports the gameplay. In quiet moments where players rest or take in a visa, the music is reflective. Wintory intertwined melodies with different instruments whenever a player was joined by another, further linking the soundtrack with gameplay. He similarly combined gameplay with music in the game ABZÛ, where he tried to create a musical theme that matched the underwater setting.
19. Jun Senoue
Jun Senoue is a Japanese video game composer and sound director who created the iconic music in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Senoue was born on August 2nd, 1970 in Japan and began playing the piano at three years old. He developed a love for rock music at age 12, however, after his family moved to Panama. By the time he was 15, he had learned how to play the electric guitar. His studies didn’t follow music initially, however. Senoue first studied economics, but then got the chance to join Sega in 1993.
Jun Senoue’s first project at Sega was composing the game, Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Sega enjoyed the rock-heavy music that he brought to the game and assigned him to Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 after that. Along with those two titles, he composed tracks for other Sonic games, such as Sonic and the Black Knight and Team Sonic Racing.
20. Shoji Meguro
Shoji Meguro is a Japanese video game composer most known for his music with Atlus, including the Megami Tensei franchise and Persona series. Meguro was born on June 4th, 1971 in Japan and had an early interest in technology and electronic music, largely due to the factory his family owned. At first, he studied mechanical engineering at university, but he started composing and playing guitar in bands outside of school. Meguro decided to pursue a music composition career and submitted a demo tape to Altus in 1996.
At Atlus, Shoji Meguro made his debut soundtrack, which was for Megami Tensei Persona. Atlus promoted him to lead composer for several of the following Persona titles, including Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5. Some of the hit songs he composed for Persona 5 include, “Last Surprise” and “Life Will Change.”
21. Motoi Sakuraba
Motoi Sakuraba is a Japanese video game composer who composed music for the Tales series, Star Ocean: The Second Story, and Dark Souls. Sakuraba was born on August 5th, 1965 in Japan. He later attended Meiji University and formed a progressive rock band called Clashed Ice. Through the band, he released an album called Baroque in the Future under the band’s new name, Deva Vu. When the band broke up, Sakuraba started composing music for Wolf Team, which led to his collaboration with Masaaki Uno. It was through Uno that Sakuraba got his first entry into video game music composition.
Motoi Sakuraba’s breakthrough soundtrack was with the game Tales of Phantasia, and it’d mark a long career with Namco. Along with Phantasia, he’d compose tracks for Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Vesperia. Eventually, Sakuraba became the exclusive composer for Camelot Software Planning, following his friend, Masaaki Uno. Together, and backed by Square Enix, they created the Star Ocean series. It was because of his work on Star Ocean and the Tales series that brought him to the attention of FromSoftware when they were looking for composers to score their new game, Dark Souls. Sakuraba collaborated with other game composers to create its soundtrack.
22. Harry Gregson-Williams
Harry Gregson-Williams is an English video game composer, producer, and orchestrator who created music for the Metal Gear Solid series and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, along with several films and TV shows. Gregson-Williams was born on December 13, 1961 and showed magical talent from an early age. He earned a choral scholarship to St. John’s College in Cambridge at age seven, then went on to study at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama. His early career saw him traveling across Europe and teaching music to children. Initially, Gregson-Williams got involved with film music composition, but he eventually gained attention from Hideo Kojima.
Hideo Kojima was looking for a composer to score the cinematics in his new game, Metal Gear Solid 2. He had learned about Harry Gregson-Williams from Hans Zimmer and approached him directly. Although Gregson-Williams was initially unsure since he wanted to focus on film scores, he ultimately decided to take on the project and scored additional cinematics for Metal Gear Solid 3 and 4. In fact, Gregson-Williams seemed to enjoy composing for video games so much that he went on to compose the music for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which became the best-selling game of 2014.
23. Jack Wall
Jack Wall is an American video game composer who has worked on major games, such as Mass Effect, the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, and the Myst series. Wall didn’t have a traditional music career. He received a civil engineering degree from Drexel University, but shifted to music after working with artists such as David Byrne, John Cale, and Patti Smith. In 1997, he composed his first game score for Vigilance.
Jack Wall’s breakthrough was with Myst III: Exile, which made other studios, such as BioWare, take notice of him. When BioWare was looking to make its game, Mass Effect, Jack Wall was brought on to compose a few of its tracks. Wall later returned to Mass Effect 2 and composed a few more tracks, including “The Citadel.” Besides Mass Effect, Wall was brought on to compose for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, III, IV, and Cold War. He even composed the jazz songs for the zombie modes.
24. Tim Follin
Tim Follin is an English video game composer, game developer, and cinematographer who composed music for Solstice, Silver Surfer, and Spider-Man/X-Men: Arcade’s Revenge. Follin was introduced to music composition through his brother, Mike. Mike Follin owned a gaming studio, Insight Software, and he had Tim compose songs for the games the studio produced, such as Subterranean Stryker. When he grew older, Tim joined Software Creations and started working on soundtracks for ports such as Bubble Bobble.
Tim Follin gained some notoriety for the innovative use of the NES sound chip when composing the soundtrack for Solstice. Despite the chip’s limitations, Follin managed to create atmospheric depth to the tracks. Follin accomplished this by composing the soundtrack programmatically rather than using instruments. He made further NES-inspired soundtracks with his brother, Geoff Follin, on Silver Surfer and Spider-Man/X-Men. Both titles had fans loving the dynamic and high-energy music that the brothers composed.
25. Junichi Masuda
Junichi Masuda is a Japanese video game composer, director, and designer best known for his work on the Pokémon franchise. Masuda was born on January 12th, 1968 in Japan, and he gained an interest in nature due to the family vacations that his family took. His interest in nature later inspired the design of the Hoenn region in the Pokémon world. Masuda played the trombone in high school and became interested in classical music, despite his interest in nature. He followed his passion for music by joining Game Freak and composing music for titles such as Mendel Palace and many of the Pokémon games.
Starting with Pokémon Red and Green, Junichi Masuda directed multiple Pokémon games, including Ruby and Sapphire, Diamond and Pearl, Black and White, and X and Y. Masuda is responsible for being the primary composer for several of the Pokémon game soundtracks, even creating many of the Pokémon cries and sound effects. In 2022, he became the Chief Creative Fellow at The Pokémon Company.
26. Garry Schyman
Garry Schyman is an American video game composer who has created iconic soundtracks for the BioShock series, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Schyman went to school at the University of Southern California and graduated with a music composition degree in 1978. His music career started in television, writing tracks for Magnum P.I. and The A-Team. Schyman eventually made his way into games by contributing to Voyeur, but it was his soundtrack for Destroy All Humans! that put him on the radar.
Garry Schyman was picked to compose the BioShock soundtrack, due to his success on Destroy All Humans! The iconic score naturally led him to score BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite, with the latter earning him a BAFTA and D.I.C.E. award. The audio director for BioShock Infinite, Emily Ridgway, helped Schyman find a unique sound that didn’t resemble any other score across all media. With a solid reputation in music composition, Schyman was chosen to score the Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War games. On these projects, he collaborated with Nate Grigg, the in-house composer. Together, they worked on creating a score that was distinct from Howard Shore’s film composition for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
27. Peter McConnell
Peter McConnell is an American video game composer who made the music for the Sly Cooper series, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and several LucasArts projects. McConnell was born on April 19th, 1960 in Pennsylvania, and he’d later attend Harvard University to study music. While he was attending Harvard, he befriended another composer, Michael Land. With Michael’s support, he worked on several audio projects before getting involved with the gaming industry. One of the first studios he worked for was LucasArts.
At LucasArts, Peter McConnell worked with Land to co-invent the iMUSE Interactive Music System, which they used to score games such as Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge. He composed or co-composed for other LucasArts projects, such as Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. McConnell left LucasArts in 2000, and joined Sucker Punch Productions to score Sly 2: Band of Thieves and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves in the Sly Cooper series. He claimed that he was heavily influenced by Henry Mancini when defining the music for the game. Bringing his reputation for being able to mix different music styles together, he was brought onto the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft project to compose a soundtrack that blended blues, rock, and Celtic themes together.
28. Yasunori Nishiki
Yasunori Nishiki is a Japanese video game composer who created the soundtrack for the Octopath series and his contribution to the Final Fantasy VII Remake. Nishiki was born on July 10, 1985 in Japan and studied music composition at the Tokyo College of Music. After college, he began working directly in the video game industry, working in-house at Konami Digital Entertainment. He worked with Konami for several years before becoming a freelance composer.
Yasunori Nishiki worked with Square Enix while he was a freelancer, composing the music for Octopath Traveler. He focused on making tracks that fit a traveling theme, and with the music one of the highlights of the game, he continued to work on Octopath Traveler’s sequels. Many fans consider his work on the first Octopath Traveler to be his signature work. Later, Square Enix chose him again to be one of the composers for the Final Fantasy VII Remake, where he arranged one of the most beloved tracks, “One-Winged Angel – Rebirth.”
29. Mick Gordon
Mick Gordon is an Australian video game composer, record producer, and sound designer who brought his well-known musical style to Doom, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Prey, and Atomic Heart. Gordon was born on July 9th, 1985 in Australia and got involved in music as a jazz and blues guitarist when he was a teenager. He later joined the video game industry and co-founded Game Audio Australia Pty Ltd. in 2006, and he worked as a sound designer in his early career, working on titles such as Destroy All Humans! 2. Gordon’s major breakthrough came when he composed music for Wolfenstein: The New Order.
The soundtrack for Wolfenstein: The New Order was a hit, prompting id Software to bring Mick Gordon back for the sequels, and to work on their next project, Doom. Doom allowed Gordon to bring his signature sound of heavy, industrial music to the game, which matched well with the game’s fast pace. Gordon came back to score Doom Eternal, which received several nominations for Best Soundtrack or Best Score.
After Doom, Arkane Studios brought Mick Gordon on to score Prey. Gordon chose to set aside his usual industrial style for ambient arpeggiated guitars and synths instead. The switch matched well with the game’s focus on psychological horror. Gordon’s previous work caught the attention of Mundfish Studio, who contacted him to compose for Atomic Heart. Mundfish Studio had previously enjoyed his Soviet-synth sound, which they believed was a fit for the game’s style.
30. Masato Nakamura
Masato Nakamura is a Japanese video game composer and record producer responsible for the legendary soundtracks for the first two Sonic the Hedgehog games. Nakamura was born on October 1st, 1958 in Japan and first started working in music as a session musician. He later co-founded Dreams Come True in 1988 with Miwa Yoshida and Takahiro Nishikawa. The band was successful, even selling over 50 million CDs. Shortly after Dreams Come True debuted, Nakamura was approached by Sega to compose music for Sonic the Hedgehog.
Sega was looking to compete with Nintendo’s Mario, and it believed that a high-profile J-pop artist was the key. Masato Nakamura was interested in joining Sega because of its desire to beat Mario, and he became part of the game’s development process. Nakamura was given storyboards and prototypes of the game, so he was able to see what the devs had in mind. He later composed the iconic soundtracks for both Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
31. Kazumi Totaka
Kazumi Totaka is a video game composer, voice actor, and sound director known for his music work with Nintendo in games such as, Mario Paint, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Yoshi’s Story, and Animal Crossing. Totaka studied music at Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo and joined Nintendo right after graduating. His first work at Nintendo was under the Nintendo Research & Development 1 branch, with early projects requiring him to compose for Game Boy titles such as F1 Race. He later composed for Mario Paint and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Throughout his career, Totaka was renowned for including “Totaka’s Song,” in all the games he composed for, which is a 19-note melody that he hides within other compositions.
After transferring to Nintendo EAD in 1996, Kazumi Totaka worked as a voice actor, lending his voice to Yoshi in Yoshi’s Story. He created Yoshi sounds that were reused across several other Mario and Yoshi titles, such as Mario Party and Super Smash Bros., too. While working at Nintendo EAD, he became involved with Animal Crossing. He directed the sound team for the original game, Animal Forest, back in 2001, and when it came to compose music for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Nintendo chose him.
32. Mahito Yokota
Mahito Yokota is a Japanese video game composer who created music for Nintendo on titles such as Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Super Mario Galaxy, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Yokota began playing the piano at an early age and later received formal training in composition and orchestration. As a passionate gamer, he knew he wanted to pursue video game composition professionally. Yokota started his career at Koei as a sound director, working on titles such as Kessen and Dynasty Warriors 4. He later joined Nintendo’s EPD Tokyo Studio, which, as a fan of Nintendo games, Yokota considered a dream come true.
Mahito Yokota was recruited by Nintendo EAD following the success of his ambitious orchestral works on Kessen and Kessen II. He was tasked with composing the full score for Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, which he did using a 50-piece orchestra. His genius of combining the music with gameplay in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, led Nintendo to assign him to co-compose Super Mario Galaxy with Koji Kondo. Yokota co-composed several tracks in Super Mario Galaxy, such as “Overture,” “Starbit Festival,” and “Attack! Koopa’s Fleet.”
In 2006, Mahito Yokota composed the music for the teaser trailer of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess game. Since he had worked with Koji Kondo before, Yokota was able to blend Kondo’s style into his own composition, connecting the two styles and giving the players a hint of Kondo’s soundtrack.
33. Winifred Phillips
Winifred Phillips is an American video game composer who created award-winning music for God of War, LittleBigPlanet, Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, and Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. Phillips had a humble upbringing with music, attending public school music classes and having a supportive band teacher introduce her to several different instruments. Phillips’ early career saw her working as a composer, producer, and actress for NPR’s radio drama series, Generations Radio Theater Presents and Radio Tales. Her leap to video game music occurred after she played Tomb Raider, and she realized that video game composition matched both of her interests. Her initial work was unpaid as she worked for mods and an unreleased MMO, but she eventually joined 2005’s God of War as a co-composer.
Sony Interactive Entertainment America hired Winifred Phillips for the God of War project after reviewing her profile. As a co-composer, she worked on tracks, such as “Exploring the Ruins,” and “Pandora’s Box.” Sony Entertainment enjoyed her work and commissioned her to co-compose tracks for LittleBigPlanet and its sequels. Phillips focused on creating whimsical tracks for levels such as Victoria’s Lab and Eve’s Asylum in LittleBigPlanet 2.
One of Winifred Phillips’ major full compositions was for Assassin’s Creed: Liberation, where she mixed jazz-infused motifs to fit the theme and setting of the game, New Orleans. With the success of her solo composition, Digital Eclipse hired her directly to score Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, which earned her a Grammy win.
34. Jason Graves
Jason Graves is an award-winning American video game composer with a reputation for making horror music on games, such as the Dead Space series, Until Dawn, the Dark Pictures Anthology, and Far Cry Primal. Graves’ early interest in music came down to a love for learning how to play different instruments. In middle and high school, he took guitar, piano, and percussion lessons. Graves decided to take his love for music and make it a profession, planning to score for films first and studying at the University of Southern California as a result. While there, he trained under composers such as Jerry Goldsmith, Christopher Young, and Elmer Bernstein. He eventually got involved with the video game industry, with Dead Space acting as his breakthrough soundtrack.
Jason Graves got involved with Dead Space after the dev team put out a request for composers who were inspired by Christopher Young’s work. Graves submitted a demo, which was inspired by The Shining, and it caught the team’s attention. His work on Dead Space made him a go-to choice for many horror studios, including Supermassive Games, who hired him to compose for the Until Dawn game and its anthology series, The Dark Pictures Anthology. Graves later worked on Far Cry Primal for Ubisoft, who hired him in the hopes of delivering a tribal and primitive sound to the game. He delivered, composing the full soundtrack and using entirely organic and pre-historic instruments.
35. Gordy Haab
Gordy Haab is an American video game composer who is primarily known for several Star Wars games, such as Star Wars: Battlefront (I and II), Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Halo Wars 2. Haab was born on March 10th, 1976 in Virginia, who became interested in music after watching E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial at six years old. He studied music at Virginia Commonwealth University, spending most of his free time playing with rock bands. He eventually caught the interest of Electronic Arts, who selected him to score the music for 2015’s Star Wars: Battlefront, and then 2017’s Star Wars: Battlefront II.
Electronic Arts later brought Gordy Haab on to work on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, alongside Stephen Barton. Haab created new themes that honored the original music but remained fresh. It was because of his reputation for bringing sophistication to a music score that Paul Lipson, audio director for Halo Wars 2, chose Haab to compose the music for the game, along with Brian Trifon and Brian Lee White. Lipson’s goal was to elevate the score while honoring Halo’s previous music, and he believed Haab was capable of meeting that challenge.
36. Inon Zur
Inon Zur is an Israeli-American video game composer who composed music for Dragon Age: Origins, the Fallout series, and Starfield. Zur was born on July 4th, 1965 in Israel, where he grew up in a house filled with music, thanks to his mother’s singing profession. He began to experiment with harmonies when he was five, then learned how to play the French horn in school. He later attended the Music Academy in Tel Aviv, before moving to the United States to study composition at the Dick Grove School of Music. Zur first composed music for film scores and TV work, and then entered the video game industry by composing for Star Trek: Klingon Academy.
Inon Zur quickly became known for his fantasy scores, particularly with BioWare and Electronic Arts. After composing for Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhall, BioWare selected Zur to compose the soundtrack for Dragon Age: Origins. Audio director Simon Pressey claimed that Zur had captured the project’s essence perfectly. With his acclaim on the rise, Zur became involved with Bethesda, who hired him on to compose music for Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. Pleased with his work, Bethesda later hired him to score Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76. Zur later worked with Bethesda again to compose the main theme for Starfield.
37. Hirokazu Tanaka
Hirokazu Tanaka is a video game composer and sound designer, known for creating soundtracks for several Nintendo games, including Metroid, Super Mario Land, and Kid Icarus. Tanaka was born on December 13th, 1957 in Japan and initially intended on going in a completely different direction with his career. He graduated with a degree in electronic engineering, and then later joined Nintendo in 1980 as its first sound engineer. He was responsible for designing the audio hardware for Famicom, NES Zapper, Game Boy, and Game Boy Printer. After becoming part of the Nintendo Research & Development 1 division, Tanaka composed his first major games, Metroid and Super Mario Land.
Hirokazu Tanaka was composing over a third of Famicom titles by 1986, so when a new project came called Metroid, he was naturally assigned to compose for it. He enjoyed a free environment while composing the music, even able to influence map designs and the names of certain areas based on his musical vision. He had a similar level of freedom when working on Super Mario Land, which he composed music for, as well as, designed the audio hardware for the Game Boy. Tanaka continued to work for Nintendo, composing music for Kid Icarus and many other titles, before retiring in 1999.
38. Koichi Sugiyama
Koichi Sugiyama was a video game composer, conductor, and orchestrator who created the beloved soundtracks for the Dragon Quest series. Sugiyama was born on April 11th, 1931 in Japan and grew up in a music-filled home. Music came naturally to him, and he even wrote small works in high school. After attending the University of Tokyo, he graduated with full honors in 1956 and began working in broadcasting at Fuji TV. He eventually switched to freelance music composition and composed music for anime, films, and TV shows. His video game work became a major part of his legacy, starting with Dragon Quest.
Koichi Sugiyama became involved with Dragon Quest after contacting Enix, now known as Square Enix, about its game, Morita Shogi. Enix was surprised that a celebrity composer knew so much about its game and invited Sugiyama to compose for Dragon Quest. The soundtrack he created was a hit, and Enix invited him to compose for every mainline Dragon Quest game afterward. Sugiyama received several honors for his work, including the Order of the Rising Sun and the Person of Cultural Merit. He passed away on September 30th, 2021.
39. Jake Kaufman
Jake Kaufman is an American video game composer who created music for Shovel Knight, Contra 4, and Crypt of the NecroDancer. Kaufman had an unorthodox road to video game music composition after dropping out of high school. He focused on creating arrangements and remixes of different video game soundtracks for fun, but steadily honed his skills in the process. In 2000, he started composing commercially. Kaufman’s first project was with the Game Boy Color port of Qbert*.
Jake Kaufman began working with WayForward, composing for Contra 4. Kaufman was a longtime fan of the Contra series and believed that working on the game was a lifelong dream. The project allowed him to meet the founders of Yacht Club Games, who later hired him to compose music for their game, Shovel Knight. Kaufman became interested in the project after seeing that the team was inspired by NES platformers, which were a personal favorite. He co-contributed to Crypt of the NecroDancer, too. Kaufman even released an album titled, “Crypt of the NecroDancer – Freestyle Retro,” which consisted of the tracks he had composed for the game.
40. Christopher Larkin
Christopher Larkin is an Australian video game composer who made the award-winning soundtrack for Hollow Knight, Outfolded, and Hacknet. Larkin was born in South Australia and began composing music when he was young. He went on to study at Brighton Secondary School, and then later studied at the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of Adelaide. Larkin earned a MPhil in music composition in 2015 and began working as a freelance composer. His breakthrough in games occurred after making the soundtrack for Hollow Knight.
Christopher Larkin was chosen to compose for Hollow Knight after he submitted a demo to Team Cherry during their Kickstarter phase. The team was so impressed by the demo, they hired Larkin, which led to several award wins. Larkin returned to compose the game’s sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong.
Although Christopher Larkin is known the most for Hollow Knight, he composed music for Outfolded and Hacknet, too. Outfolded was a unique challenge for Larkin, in that he used a procedurally generated ambient score that evolves gradually over time. The goal was to match the music to the gameplay. Larkin co-contributed to the ending music, credits, and backing tracks on Hacknet.
41. Kenta Nagata
Kenta Nagata is a Japanese video game composer and sound director who is behind the well-known music in the Mario Kart series and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, as well as contributing to Animal Crossing’s soundtrack. Nagata was born in 1970 and learned how to play the piano, bass, and guitar early in life. He joined Nintendo in 1996, working for their sound team, which eventually led to his first major assignment. Nintendo tasked him with composing the entire soundtrack for Mario Kart 64.
Nintendo entrusted the entire soundtrack of Mario Kart 64 to Kenta Nagata, and its gamble proved to be a success. Nagata composed iconic songs, such as “Rainbow Road” and “Moo Moo Farm.” The success of the soundtrack had Nintendo work on The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom next as one of its composers and sound supervisors. This wasn’t the only project that Nagata contributed to, either. Nintendo had Nagata produce the field background music for 2001’s Animal Crossing. Nagata specifically worked on outdoor music, such as night and day tracks, and various hourly field tracks.
42. Cris Velasco
Cris Velasco is an American video game composer who created music for Overwatch, the expansions for the Mass Effect series, and Bloodborne. Velasco didn’t start his music journey until he turned 21. Before then, his involvement with music was playing in a death metal band in his teens. After listening to Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, he was inspired to pursue composition. Velasco learned how to read music, studied piano and music theory, and then attended UCLA’s composition program. It took him nearly seven years before breaking into the video game industry with his debut soundtrack in 2004’s Battlestar Galactica.
Cris Velasco quit his normal job after securing the job with Battlestar Galactica, throwing his all into his new profession as a video game composer. His work on the project gave him a solid enough reputation that when he pitched himself to BioWare to compose its expansions, the studio accepted. Velasco went on to compose the soundtrack for Kasumi’s Stolen Memory and Arrival DLCs in Mass Effect 2, and The Citadel, Omega, and Leviathan DLCs in Mass Effect 3. Working with BioWare gave him the confidence to submit a demo to Overwatch during a competition they were holding for a composer to make the game’s trailer music. Velasco ultimately won and went on to compose both the trailer track and the main theme for the game.
FromSoftware hired Cris Velasco to compose Bloodborne after he pitched himself to the studio. Although the studio already had an in-house score, they invited him to compose music for specific bosses in the game. Velasco wanted to be part of the project because he loved the dirty, scary, Lovecraftian themes the game had.
43. Hiroki Kikuta
Hiroki Kikuta is a Japanese video game composer and game designer who composed the soundtracks for Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana. Kikuta studied at Kansai University where he earned a degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Cultural Anthropology. Although Kikuta had a love for music, he initially worked as a manga illustrator. He’d later compose anime music, but it was in 1991 that he finally joined Square. At Square, Kikuta made sound effects for the Romancing SaGa before composing full soundtracks.
Secret of Mana is considered to be Hiroki Kikuta’s breakthrough work, but he had to fight to receive the gig. Despite not having any game industry experience, Kikuta submitted a progressive rock tape, which impressed Nobuo Uematsu and Kenji Ito. He was hired to Square, initially debugging Final Fantasy IV, before getting the lead on composing the soundtrack for Secret of Mana. Kikuta threw everything into the soundtrack, working nearly 24 hours a day, but in return, he had complete creative freedom over the game’s music. The success of the soundtrack led to Kikuta returning to score Trials of Mana, which had over three times the amount of music.
44. Noriyuki Iwadare
Noriyuki Iwadare is a Japanese video game composer who made music for the Grandia series, the Lunar series, and Radiata Stories. Iwadare was born on April 28th, 1964 in Japan and started teaching himself how to play music. After playing in bands and experimenting with synthesizers, he began to compose. Iwadare began working in the gaming industry in the 1980s, with some of his earliest work in titles such as Alien Crush and Devil’s Crush.
Noriyuki Iwadare almost missed out on composing for the Grandia soundtrack, since he didn’t learn about the composer auditions until a day before the deadline. He quickly composed the game’s theme song in three days and secured the role as lead composer. The soundtrack for Grandia became one of his worldwide successes, with live performances of the soundtrack still occurring to this day. Working on Grandia led Iwadare to get involved with the Lunar series. Iwadare worked with other composers on the game, with his contributions being the opening theme, battle music, moon motifs, and village themes.
After taking a two-year hiatus from work, Noriyuki Iwadare returned in time to score the entire soundtrack for Radiata Stories. The developer of Radiata Stories, tri-Ace, typically worked with Motoi Sakuraba, who had a distinct sound. Iwadare composed original pieces and rearranged three of Sakuraba’s compositions to ensure the music matched tri-Ace’s typical sound.
45. Kinuyo Yamashita
Kinuyo Yamashita is a Japanese video game composer best known for composing the original Castlevania soundtrack. Yamashita was born on December 31st, 1965 in Japan and took piano lessons when she was four years old. She later studied electronic engineering at Osaka Electro-Communication University. Having an interest in sound and music, she joined the Konami Kukeiha Club and joined Konami soon after as a sound effect designer and music contributor.
Castlevania became Kinuyo Yamashita’s most well-known project, and it was one of the first projects she worked on after joining Konami. Yamashita was able to look at the visual images of different game stages, allowing her to match the musical tones of certain stages. Although she was putting a lot of effort into Castlevania’s music, she didn’t think that it’d become her most popular since she was working on several titles at the same time. In fact, Yamashita resigned from Konami in 1989 due to overwork. Although she went on to freelance for other studios and worked on other titles, such as Power Blade and Mega Man X3, she ultimately suffered a brain hemorrhage that paused her work. Yamashita recovered and resumed freelancing after settling in the United States.
46. Shinji Hosoe
Shinji Hosoe is a Japanese video game composer who created music for titles such as Dragon Spirit and the Street Fighter EX series. Hosoe was born on February 28, 1967 and got his start in the video game music industry by joining Namco in 1985. He worked as a part-time tester and CG artist, before becoming a music composer a year later. His early work was in titles such as Dragon Spirit, Final Lap, and Ordyne.
Shinji Hosoe got involved with Dragon Spirit as a graphics artist first, but since many of the other in-house composers were working on another project at the time, Hosoe asked how to add music to the game. After learning, he began to compose music himself for it. Namco assigned the music composition to him once they learned he was making tracks for the game. After leaving Namco, Hosoe joined Arika and worked as a sound director and producer for the Street Fighter EX series. He worked on the soundtrack with other composers, mixing rock and techno together for a high-energy sound.
47. Tommy Tallarico
Tommy Tallarico is an American video game composer and sound designer behind the soundtracks for the titles, Prince of Persia, and The Terminator. Tallarico was born on February 18th, 1968, and has been contributing audio to games since the 1990s. He started his own company, Tommy Tallarico Studios, which has allowed him to contribute audio to over 300 games. He began his career at Virgin Interactive Entertainment, which allowed him to work on the Game Boy version of the Prince of Persia and Earthworm Jim.
Tommy Tallarico showed initiative the moment that he joined Virgin Interactive Entertainment, even lobbying the vice president for a chance to compose the Game Boy port of Prince of Persia. The vice president was impressed by his initiative and promoted him to the company’s full-time music lead. Tallarico became involved with composing for The Terminator during his time at VIE, too. He convinced the vice president to invest in the studio, which allowed Tallarico to compose with high-production rock, techno, and pop tracks that featured a live guitar, which was the first ever in a video game.
48. Bear McCreary
Bear McCreary is an American and BAFTA Award-winning video game composer who has scored music for films and TV shows, as well as, the rebooted God of War series and The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. McCreay was raised in Washington State where he became classically trained as a pianist. He taught himself to play the accordion, too. McCreary studied at USC Thornton School of Music, even becoming a protégé of Elmer Bernstein. Although McCreary has worked on several film and TV projects, such as Outlander and Percy Jackson and the Olympians, he didn’t get involved in the video game industry until 2018 when he was invited by the Sony Santa Monica Studio to meet with creative director Cory Barlog for the reboot of God of War.
Bear McCreary became interested in joining God of War after learning that the game focused on a father-son relationship amidst grief and danger. He created the music for God of War by relying on Nordic folk sounds. Due to the success of the game and its soundtrack, McCreary was invited to compose for its sequel, God of War Ragnarok. McCreary was no stranger to themes of grief as he had composed for the hit TV show, The Walking Dead. Because of his relationship with the show, he was a natural choice to compose the title theme music for The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. He took on the project, although he didn’t score the full soundtrack.
49. Tee Lopes
Tee Lopes is a Portuguese-American video game composer who created music for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, particularly Sonic Mania. Lopes was born in Portugal in 1987 but moved to the United States when he was a teenager. He initially pursued hip-hop production before he became interested in making video game music. His early career began with remixing Sonic music and posting them on YouTube.
Tee Lopes’ remixes on YouTube garnered the interest of PagodaWest Games, who then hired him to compose for their game, Major Magnet. Later on, when PagodaWest Games collaborated with Headcanon to make Sonic Mania, Lopes was immediately hired as the game’s sole composer. Lopes was so inspired by the project that he composed the first stage’s track the same day that he played it in the game.
50. Neal Acree
Neal Acree is an American video game composer who composed music for World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, and Diablo III. Acree was born on July 11th, 1974 in California, and although he initially wanted to be an artist, he became inspired by composers such as John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. He studied classical, electronic, and ethnic music, even going to England to expand his education, before starting to compose for TV shows such as, Stargate SG-1 and The Legend of Vox Machina. Acree got involved in the video game industry in 2006, when his agent got him an audition to score the opening cinematic for The Burning Crusade expansion in World of Warcraft.
Neal Acree submitted a demo to Blizzard by re-scoring the original World of Warcraft cinematic. Blizzard was impressed by the track and gave him the job, later inviting him to compose the Wrath of the Lich King cinematic trailer, too. Blizzard approached Acree to score StarCraft II, in which he scored several cinematics in the expansions such as, Wings of Liberty, and Heart of the Swarm. Acree’s collaboration with Blizzard wasn’t over, however, as the studio brought him on to contribute music to Diablo III. Acree met with the cinematic directors to discuss the music’s direction and emotional beats, leading to some iconic cinematic music tracks.
51. Keiichi Okabe
Keiichi Okabe is a Japanese video game composer and music producer behind the music for game titles, such as Tekken and the NieR series. Okabe was born on May 26, 1969 in Japan and graduated from Kobe Design University in the Visual Information department. After graduating, Okabe began working for Namco. His initial work for them was for titles, such as Spiral Fall and Air Combat 22.
Keiichi Okabe’s first major work was on Tekken 2, which was such a success that he was chosen to score Tekken 3’s arcade version, as well as, collaborating with others on Tekken Tag Tournament. It was through his reputation on Tekken that got him the greenlight to compose for the NieR series. NieR Replicant had low expectations in terms of its success, which gave Okabe a lot of creative freedom to do what he wanted with the score. He chose to consistently make sad tracks with emotional depth. He brought in Emi Evans for her unique voice, which became iconic for the series’ sound. The success of the game, and its soundtrack, led Okabe to score its sequels, including NieR: Automata.
52. Michael Giacchino
Michael Giacchino is an American video game composer who has created music for film, TV, and video games, such as the Medal of Honor series, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and Call of Duty (2003), along with several film and TV soundtracks. Giacchino studied filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, but then started working in marketing for Disney. He was studying music composition at Julliard and UCLA at the same time. Eventually, he transitioned from marketing to video game scoring at Disney Interactive and DreamWorks, where he impressed Steven Spielberg with his score for The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
Stephen Spielberg compared Michael Giacchino to John Williams for his musical talent on The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Giacchino made an impressive soundtrack by recording live with a 40-piece orchestra, using the game’s storyboard as a reference. He even crafted unique themes for each playable character in the game, based on their personalities. The high-quality, cinematic approach to the score led Giachhino to work on other projects, such as Medal of Honor and Call of Duty. Giachhino worked on the first four installments of the Medal of Honor series, creating iconic WWII-theme orchestral scores. Call of Duty wanted the same sort of gravity that Giachhino brought to his music, so the team hired him to compose for Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Finest Hour, and Secret Weapons Over Normandy.
