# International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media

The International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media is an annual award given by the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA). Established in 2007, the award is given to the composer of a video game score based on two criteria: "the effectiveness, appropriateness and emotional impact of the score in the context of the film for which it was written; and the technical and intellectual merit of the composition when heard as a standalone listening experience." The eligibility period runs January 1 through December 31 every year, and IFMCA members vote for the winner the following February.
As of 2025, 71 composers and one band have been nominated for the International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media. The first award was given to John Debney for his work on the video game Lair. The most recent recipients was Gordy Haab for his work on the video game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Austin Wintory has been nominated eight times and won three; he is the only composer to have been nominated twice in the same year, which happened in 2016. Bear McCreary was nominated six times, while Olivier Deriviere and Neal Acree were each nominated five.

## Winners and nominees

In the tables below, winners are marked by a light green background and a double-dagger symbol (‡).

### 2000s

Awards in the 2000s :
| Year | Game/Interactive Media | Composer(s) | Compan(y/ies) |
| 2007 | Lair‡ | John Debney | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| 2007 | BioShock | Garry Schyman | 2K Games |
| 2007 | Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | Stephen Barton Harry Gregson-Williams (theme music) | Activision |
| 2007 | Medal of Honor: Airborne | Michael Giacchino | EA |
| 2007 | Warhawk | Christopher Lennertz Tim Wynn | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| 2008 | Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures‡ | Knut Avenstroup Haugen | Funcom Eidos Interactive |
| 2008 | Afrika | Wataru Hokoyama | Sony Computer Entertainment (Japan) Natsume Inc. (North American) |
| 2008 | Gears of War 2 | Steve Jablonsky | Microsoft Game Studios |
| 2008 | Mercenaries 2: World in Flames | Chris Tilton | EA |
| 2008 | Star Wars: The Force Unleashed | Mark Griskey | LucasArts |
| 2009 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince‡ | James Hannigan | EA |
| 2009 | Assassin's Creed II | Jesper Kyd | Ubisoft |
| 2009 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | Lorne Balfe Hans Zimmer (theme music) | Activision |
| 2009 | Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian | Chris Tilton | Majesco Entertainment |
| 2009 | Spore Hero | Winifred Phillips | EA |

### 2010s

Awards in the 2010s :
| Year | Game/Interactive Media | Composer(s) | Compan(y/ies) |
| 2010 | Castlevania: Lords of Shadow‡ | Óscar Araujo | Konami |
| 2010 | Dark Void | Bear McCreary | Capcom |
| 2010 | James Bond 007: Blood Stone | Richard Jacques | Activision |
| 2010 | Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole | Winifred Phillips | WB Games |
| 2010 | Lego Universe | Brian Tyler | The Lego Group |
| 2011 | Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch‡ | Joe Hisaishi | Level-5 (company) (Japan) Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2011 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 | Brian Tyler | Activision |
| 2011 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Jeremy Soule | Bethesda Softworks |
| 2011 | L.A. Noire | Andrew Hale Simon Hale | Rockstar Games |
| 2011 | SOCOM 4 U.S. Navy SEALs | Bear McCreary | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| 2012 | Journey‡ | Austin Wintory | Sony Computer Entertainment Annapurna Interactive (PC, iOS) |
| 2012 | Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning | Grant Kirkhope | 38 Studios EA |
| 2012 | Resistance: Burning Skies | Jason Graves Kevin Riepl | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| 2012 | Starhawk | Christopher Lennertz | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| 2012 | World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria | Neal Acree Russell Brower Sam Cardon Edo Guidotti Jeremy Soule | Blizzard Entertainment |
| 2013 | Remember Me‡ | Olivier Deriviere | Capcom |
| 2013 | Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag | Brian Tyler | Ubisoft |
| 2013 | Beyond: Two Souls | Lorne Balfe | Sony Computer Entertainment Quantic Dream (PC) |
| 2013 | Company of Heroes 2 | Cris Velasco | Sega Feral Interactive (macOS, Linux) |
| 2013 | Puppeteer | Patrick Doyle | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| 2014 | Civilization: Beyond Earth‡ | Griffin Cohen Michael Curren Grant Kirkhope Geoff Knorr | 2K Games Aspyr (macOS, Linux) |
| 2014 | Assassin's Creed Unity | Chris Tilton Sarah Schachner | Ubisoft |
| 2014 | The Banner Saga | Austin Wintory | Versus Evil |
| 2014 | Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 | Óscar Araujo | Konami |
| 2014 | World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor | Neal Acree Clint Bajakian Russell Brower Sam Cardon Craig Stuart Garfinkle Edo Guidotti Eímear Noone | Blizzard Entertainment |
| 2015 | Assassin's Creed Syndicate‡ | Austin Wintory | Ubisoft |
| 2015 | Civilization: Beyond Earth – Rising Tide | Griffin Cohen Grant Kirkhope Geoff Knorr | 2K Games Aspyr (macOS, Linux) |
| 2015 | Everybody's Gone to the Rapture | Jessica Curry | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| 2015 | Ori and the Blind Forest | Gareth Coker | Moon Studios |
| 2015 | Revelation | Neal Acree | NetEase |
| 2016 | Abzû‡ | Austin Wintory | 505 Games |
| 2016 | The Banner Saga 2 | Austin Wintory | Versus Evil |
| 2016 | The Dwarves | Benny Oschmann | THQ Nordic |
| 2016 | The Last Guardian | Takeshi Furukawa | SIE |
| 2016 | ReCore | Chad Seiter | Microsoft Studios |
| 2017 | Rime‡ | David García Díaz | Grey Box Six Foot |
| 2017 | Deformers | Austin Wintory | GameTrust |
| 2017 | Divide | Chris Tilton | — |
| 2017 | Get Even | Olivier Deriviere | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2017 | Valkyria Revolution | Yasunori Mitsuda | Sega (North America, Japan) Deep Silver (PAL region) |
| 2018 | God of War‡ | Bear McCreary | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| 2018 | 11-11: Memories Retold | Olivier Deriviere | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2018 | Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom | Joe Hisaishi | Level-5 (company) (Japan) Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2018 | Spider-Man | John Paesano | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| 2018 | Torn | Garry Schyman | Aspyr |
| 2019 | Rend‡ | Neal Acree | Frostkeep Studios |
| 2019 | Days Gone | Nathan Whitehead | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| 2019 | Erica | Austin Wintory | Flavourworks |
| 2019 | A Plague Tale: Innocence | Olivier Deriviere | Focus Home Interactive |
| 2019 | Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | Stephen Barton Gordy Haab | EA |

### 2020s

Awards in the 2020s :
| Year | Game/Interactive Media | Composer(s) | Companies |
| 2020 | Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond‡ | Michael Giacchino Nami Melumad | Respawn Entertainment EA |
| 2020 | Ghost of Tsushima | Ilan Eshkeri Shigeru Umebayashi | Sucker Punch Productions Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| 2020 | Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Gareth Coker | Moon Studios Xbox Game Studios |
| 2020 | The Pathless | Austin Wintory | Giant Squid Annapurna Interactive |
| 2020 | Star Wars: Squadrons | Gordy Haab | Motive Studios EA |
| 2021 | Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart‡ | Mark Mothersbaugh Wataru Hokoyama | Insomniac Games Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| 2021 | Ark: Genesis part II | Gareth Coker | Studio Wildcard |
| 2021 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Bear McCreary | Sledgehammer Games Activision |
| 2021 | Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island & Legends | Chad Cannon Bill Hemstapat Ilan Eshkeri (theme music) | Sucker Punch Productions Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| 2021 | Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy | Richard Jacques | Eidos-Montréal Square Enix |
| 2022 | God of War Ragnarök‡ | Bear McCreary | Santa Monica Studio Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| 2022 | Cat Burglar | Christopher Willis | Netflix |
| 2022 | The Faith of the Three Kingdoms | Shigeru Umebayashi Chad Cannon | Ice Bird Studio |
| 2022 | Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope | Yōko Shimomura Grant Kirkhope Gareth Coker | Ubisoft Milan Ubisoft Paris Ubisoft |
| 2022 | A Plague Tale: Requiem | Olivier Derivière | Asobo Studio Focus Entertainment |
| 2023 | Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora‡ | Pinar Toprak Neal Acree | Massive Entertainment Ubisoft |
| 2023 | God of War Ragnarök (Valhalla) | Sparks & Shadows Bear McCreary | Santa Monica Studio Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| 2023 | Hogwarts Legacy | Chuck Myers Scott Rakozy Peter Murray | Avalanche Software Warner Bros. Games |
| 2023 | Planet of Lana | Takeshi Furukawa | Wishfully Studios Thunderful Publishing |
| 2023 | Star Wars Jedi: Survivor | Stephen Barton Gordy Haab | Respawn Entertainment Electronic Arts |
| 2024 | Indiana Jones and the Great Circle‡ | Gordy Haab | MachineGames Bethesda Softworks |
| 2024 | Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | Masashi Hamauzu Mitsuto Suzuki | Square Enix |
| 2024 | Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok | Rubén Melià | Noxfall Studios |
| 2024 | Quidditch Champions | Cris Velasco | Unbroken Studios Warner Bros. Games |
| 2024 | Star Wars: Outlaws | Wilbert Roget II Jon Everist Kazuma Jinnouchi | Massive Entertainment Ubisoft |