# Mikolai Stroinski

Mikolai Stroinski (or Mikołaj Stroiński, Polish pronunciation:; born 3 June 1979) is a Polish film, television, and video game composer.

## Life and career

He comes from a musical family. His father, Wojciech Stroiński, was a trumpeter and pianist in the Royal Rag Jazz Band in Poland (1969–1981). Mikolai was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and grew up in Warsaw and Zalesie Górne near the Polish capital. He graduated from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice and the Berklee College of Music in Boston (2004), where he studied film scoring and jazz piano under Ray Santisi. He writes original music for films and video games. He is known for scoring the video games The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (2014), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015), Metamorphosis (2020) and other games, including Age of Empires IV (2021, French civilization) and Diablo Immortal (2022).
He lives and works in Los Angeles, where he moved after graduation. He began his career in 2004, scoring and composing music for TV programs and films, and then expanded to the gaming industry, scoring the trailer for Dark Souls II in 2014. He is also a music producer, working from his own studio, founded in Los Angeles in 2006. In 2017, he composed the soundtrack for the opening ceremony of the Hannover Messe world trade fair in Germany. His video game music has won him awards and critical acclaim. In 2024, Matt Leone wrote on the gaming website Polygon that he established himself as one of the strongest musical talents in the industry.

## Selected works
### Video games

| Year | Game | Developer |
| 2014 | MouseCraft | Crunching Koalas |
| 2014 | The Vanishing of Ethan Carter | The Astronauts |
| 2014 | The Witcher Adventure Game | CD Projekt Red, Can Explode Games |
| 2015 | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | CD Projekt Red |
| 2017 | Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 | CI Games |
| 2017 | Gwent: The Witcher Card Game | CD Projekt Red |
| 2018 | Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales | CD Projekt Red |
| 2018 | Kursk  [uk] | Jujubee |
| 2018 | Attack of the Earthlings | Team Junkfish |
| 2018 | Detached: Non-VR Edition | Anshar Studios |
| 2019 | Bee Simulator  [pl] | Varsav Game Studios |
| 2019 | Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts | CI Games |
| 2020 | Metamorphosis | Ovid Works |
| 2021 | Chernobylite | The Farm 51 |
| 2021 | Age of Empires IV | Relic Entertainment, World's Edge |
| 2022 | Diablo Immortal | Blizzard Entertainment, NetEase |
| 2024 | Nobody Wants to Die | Critical Hit Games |
| 2025 | Assassin's Creed Jade | Ubisoft |

### Television

* Breakthrough with Tony Robbins (2010)
* Baby Boomer Bunnies (2011)
* Paradoks (2012)
* Without Secrets (2012–2013)
* Zbrodnia (2014–2015)
* Kaprys losu (2016)
* The Liberator (2020)
* Capelli Code (2021)
* Queen (2022)

### Film

* Hired Gun (2009)
* Modjeska – Woman Triumphant (2009)
* Wonderful Summer (2010)
* Marchewkowe pole (2016)
* Over the Limit (2017)
* Dangerous Words from the Fearless (2017)
* Diplodocus (2024)
* The Boy at the Edge of the World (2025)

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Result | Award | Category | Work |
| 2014 | Won | Annual Game Music Awards | Best Score Orchestral / Cinematic; Outstanding Contribution – Newcomer of the Year | The Vanishing of Ethan Carter |
| 2015 | Nominated | 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition | The Vanishing of Ethan Carter |
| 2015 | Nominated | Game Developers Choice Awards | Best Audio | The Vanishing of Ethan Carter |
| 2015 | Nominated | Hollywood Music in Media Awards | Best Original Score – Video Game | The Vanishing of Ethan Carter |
| 2015 | Nominated | Hollywood Music in Media Awards | Best Original Score – Video Game | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |
| 2015 | Won | NAVGTR Awards | Original Dramatic Score, Franchise | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |
| 2015 | Won | Best of IGN | Best Original Music | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |
| 2015 | Nominated | The Game Awards | Best Score / Soundtrack | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |
| 2015 | Won | PlayStation.Blog Game of the Year Awards | Best Soundtrack | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |
| 2015 | Won | Global Game Awards | Best Audio | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |
| 2019 | Won | Digital Dragons Awards | Best Game Soundtrack | Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales |
| 2020 | Won | Music+Sound Awards | Best Original Composition in Gaming | Bee Simulator  [pl] |
| 2020 | Nominated | Game Audio Network Guild Awards | Best Original Instrumental; Best Music in a Casual Game; Best Original Soundtrack Album | Bee Simulator  [pl] |
| 2020 | Won | Game Audio Network Guild Awards | Best Music for an Indie Game | Bee Simulator  [pl] |
| 2021 | Nominated | Game Audio Network Guild Awards | Best Music for an Indie Game | Metamorphosis |
| 2021 | Nominated | Game Audio Network Guild Awards | Music of the Year | Metamorphosis |
| 2021 | Won | Society of Composers & Lyricists | Outstanding Original Score for Interactive Media | Metamorphosis |
| 2022 | Won | Canadian Game Awards | Best Score / Soundtrack | Age of Empires IV |