Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord has clinched the prestigious Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media. Composer Winifred Phillips, accepting the award, expressed heartfelt gratitude to developer Digital Eclipse and the audience for "believing in music for games and recognizing it and for breathing life and enthusiasm and energy into what we do. It means so much."

This celebrated title is a 3D remake of the original game in the iconic Wizardry series, first released in 1981. Known as the pioneering party-based video game RPG, Wizardry is lauded for inspiring genre-defining series like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. The new version, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, is intricately built on the original game's code, allowing players a nostalgic glimpse at the Apple 2 interface as they play.

Phillips triumphed over formidable competitors including Wilbert Roget, II for Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws, John Paesano for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Bear McCreary for God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla, and Pinar Toprak for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

In a subsequent interview, Phillips shared her astonishment, stating, "I really didn’t expect it. The category was populated with so much brilliance this year, and I have so much deep respect for the other nominees in this category. So to have been recognized is just a highlight of my career. It truly is."

She elaborated on the unique nature of video game music, saying, "We do a very unique thing. We’re creating music that needs to accompany people who are having an experience and who are making choices, and having adventures and living a grand story, and we’re creating the music for that story. It’s such a wonderful privilege because you feel like you’re collaborating with the players. Like you know them and they know you. It’s really very special."

Previous winners of this acclaimed award include Stephanie Economou for Ubisoft’s Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab for Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The first piece of video game music to win a Grammy in any category was Christopher Tin's arrangement of Baba Yetu for Firaxis’ Civilization 4, which took home Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2011.