The 2026 Grammy nominations are live, and at least one recognized composer is disappointed to see Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 shut out of the awards’ video games category.
The Grammys Recording Academy just yesterday announced its nominations for all things music, including the category for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, which recognized Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – Secrets of the Spires (Pinar Toprak), Helldivers 2 (Wilbert Roget), Indiana Jones And The Great Circle (Gordy Haab), Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card & A Pirate’s Fortune (Cody Matthew Johnson & Wilbert Roget), and Sword of the Sea (Austin Wintory). That’s three movie adaptations, if anyone’s keeping track.
But Sword of the Sea composer Austin Wintory (the three-time Grammy nominee behind Journey, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Abzu, and The Banner Saga) had mixed feelings about the honor.
“Congrats to my friends and thank you to Recording Academy for including Sword of the Sea at the ’26 Grammys,” he tweeted after the noms came out. “I’m sad at the lack of Expedition 33 among them. I would happily trade places. That score is the *definition* of worthy!”
The Expedition 33 snub is notable because Sandfall Interactive’s RPG is one of the very best-reviewed games of the year, but even outside of the gaming landscape, its soundtrack composed by Lorien Testard has topped the Billboard Classical charts for 10 entire weeks.
Not to worry – based on how game creators like Final Fantasy 7’s Naoki Hamaguchi talk about the French RPG, it’ll almost definitely receive some accolades by the end of the year.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead says “it would be harder to embrace our Frenchness even more” unless Sandfall “put snails and frogs everywhere in the next game”
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