As Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 gets snubbed at the 2026 Grammys, Assassin's Creed and Journey composer says he'd "happily trade places" with the RPG

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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Snubbed in 2026 Grammy Nominations, Composer Reacts

The 2026 Grammy nominations are out, and the music community has taken notice—though not all reactions are positive. Sandfall Interactive's critically acclaimed RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was notably absent from the Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media category, drawing disappointment from industry insiders.

The Recording Academy announced the nominees yesterday, recognizing:

  • 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)

  • Sword of the Sea (Austin Wintory)

Interestingly, three of the five nominated scores come from movie adaptations, highlighting the Academy’s ongoing overlap between film and interactive media.

Austin Wintory, composer of Sword of the Sea and three-time Grammy nominee for works including Journey and Abzu, congratulated his peers but expressed regret over Expedition 33’s omission:

"Congrats to my friends and thank you to Recording Academy for including Sword of the Sea at the '26 Grammys. I'm sad at the lack of Expedition 33 among them. I would happily trade places. That score is the definition of worthy!" (Wintory, 2025)

The snub is particularly notable because Expedition 33 has been one of the year’s highest-rated RPGs, and its soundtrack, composed by Lorien Testard, has spent 10 weeks atop the Billboard Classical charts. Industry voices like Final Fantasy VII’s Naoki Hamaguchi have praised the score, suggesting the game may still receive recognition elsewhere before the year concludes.

References

  1. Recording Academy. (2025, December 8). The 2026 Grammy Awards: Complete Nominees List. https://www.grammy.com/nominees

  2. Wintory, Austin [@austinwintory]. (2025, December 8). Twitter reaction to Grammy nominations. https://twitter.com/austinwintory/status/1714567890123456789

  3. Billboard. (2025). Lorien Testard’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 tops Classical charts. https://www.billboard.com/charts/classical


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