Video game soundtracks take on lives of their own — The opening beats of Morrowind’s main theme, the shifting chords of C418’s Minecraft, and the panic-inducing pizza delivery theme from Spider-Man 2 have stayed with gamers since they came out and will continue to for years to come.
Video game composing has become as respectable and mainstream a profession for musicians as any other genre: The band Sea Power made the soundtrack to the hit 2019 game Disco Elysium, the music collaborative Machine Girl composed the original soundtrack for the 2022 game Neon White, and even Paul McCartney helped work on Destiny soundtrack in 2014. Becoming a composer for a popular or hit video game can easily become a highway to stardom for musicians like Lena Raine, Koji Kondo, and Austin Wintory.
However, there is an entire subgenre of video game soundtracks deserving particular acclaim — Videogame mod soundtracks.
As videogame mods have become larger and more mainstream and accessible, so too have their makers become more ambitious, often incorporating fully-fledged soundtracks into their creations. These soundtracks are written by indie albeit highly skilled musicians, adding new life to mods, as well as occasionally opening up new opportunities for their composers. Mod soundtracks easily have the power to reshape the video game music world as it’s known, as seen in mods for Deus Ex, The Elder Scrolls and the Portal series.
Deus Ex Revision
One of the most impressive examples is Deus Ex Revision, a community-made overhaul mod of the groundbreaking 2000 immersive sim, Deus Ex. Available for free on the Steam store, it provides a total revamp of the base game, adding new areas, achievements, characters–and a totally revamped soundtrack. The composing duo EdenShard, consisting of John French and Logan Felber, did the soundtrack to Revision.
Composing a soundtrack is a difficult enough task, but even more so when working with a game that has a preexisting soundtrack. For Felber, who was writing a remixed soundtrack for Deus Ex Revision, this led to an interesting challenge, saying, “For the most part I refrained from ripping the original [Deus Ex soundtrack] samples as an exercise in the sound design…It’s a little tedious but plotting notes by hand gives me cleaner results as well as a more thorough handle on the composition.” This led to a soundtrack which, Felber says, had a “moodier, more ambient tilt at the cost of the characteristic ‘tracker sound’ edge…” Felber admits that “…While we took that as a matter of artistic license at the time, I think in retrospect it was more the limits of what we knew how to do musically. In some places it worked, but if I had to do it over again it would sound a lot different.” Felber’s soundtrack has been hailed since Revision was released, with many citing it as instrumental in retaining the atmosphere of the original game.
The Elder Scrolls
Immersive sims are not the only genres to have mod soundtracks. Two of the largest mods for the renowned RPG series The Elder Scrolls, namely Beyond Skyrim and Tamriel Rebuilt, have similar initiatives. Beyond Skyrim is a sprawling fourteen-year-old project by modders to add the rest of the continent of Tamriel to Skyrim, and has had numerous composers work on its myriad subprojects, such as Daniel Ran, who wrote the soundtrack to the mod’s Bruma release; Michiel de Groot, who wrote the soundtrack for the mod’s upcoming Elsweyr release; and Eric Gordon Berg, who wrote the soundtrack for the mod’s upcoming The New North release. Tamriel Rebuilt is Beyond Skyrim’s older (and even more ambitious) counterpart for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, and it too has had various soundtrack releases, some by Erik Rettig, known by his pseudonym ASKII.
For Beyond Skyrim, each composer had a differing thought process. Daniel Ran admits it was daunting work, saying, “When I’m working on something else, it will for the most part stand on its own, but the Bruma OST was implicitly put up against some of the best work by one of the most successful video game composers to date. That was a mental challenge I often struggled with.” Like Felber, however, he tried to stay true to the original music of Oblivion, where Bruma first appeared, while also developing something novel: “It’s not so much about the specific choices Jeremy Soule made, like chord progressions or instrumentation, but rather how each was used to create the desired effect as a whole. People have specific expectations for a TES score; memorable, song-like tracks with harmony and structure that are easy to follow. So I applied my own style to those principles.”
Ran worked on a section of the world of The Elder Scrolls seen in a previous title; whereas Michiel de Groot had no such restrictions working on an Elsweyr project. He found writing the soundtrack to be a challenge, but a fun one. Speaking of the differences between snowy Skyrim and balmy Elsweyr, he says, “We needed something more distant, something vastly different, in order to really make it fit this beautifully unique place…In the case of the music for Beyond Skyrim Elsweyr, it ended up as a wonderfully diverse collection of instruments from all over the world, due to the visual input and history of the region.” De Groot cited extensive research he did on both the fictional world of Elsweyr’s lore as well as the cultures that inspired it as being key in helping create his soundtrack. Having that to guide him prevented him from falling into what he called the “Infinite freedom” trap and doing whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. “Yes, having no time / budget restraints can be dangerous for efficiency when you’re not careful–but it also paves the way for more creative freedom than a professional environment might provide,” he finished.
Eric Gordon Berg agreed that the process is a daunting one. Like Ran, Berg has worked on a soundtrack for a part of Tamriel previously seen in another game, this time Morrowind. “I have spent countless hours listening, studying, researching and trying to emulate the sound of these games. Not just Skyrim, but the entire franchise. There is something so special and unique about these soundtracks. They aren’t just fantasy soundtracks. They have an identity of their own.” He is hopeful of the finished product: “ I want people to listen to The New North fifteen years from now and feel that same level of nostalgia they have for the original Morrowind.” He hopes that when people hear his music for Beyond Skyrim, they don’t think of him, but rather of The Elder Scrolls.
ASKII worked on the soundtrack for Tamriel Rebuilt.
ASKII says he does not that the task of writing for Tamriel Rebuilt lightly. “It’s not just about complementing an existing soundtrack, but also about honoring the nostalgia and emotional connection people have with the original music.” He similarly does research as de Groot does: “Before I begin writing, I spend time listening to the original soundtrack again to get into the right mindset. I also ask for screenshots and lore background from the new regions to understand the story and emotional tone I need to convey.” Still, ASKII lets his own style shine through, especially as he has access to new technology: “The original soundtrack from 2002 used sampled instruments that don’t quite compare to modern libraries. That’s the biggest shift in sound. Some purists aren’t too fond of that–which I totally understand.”
As for whether or not working on mod soundtracks provided future opportunities, the results are mixed. De Groot found his work with Beyond Skyrim to be quite enriching. Aside from working with instruments and sounds and cultures he was unfamiliar with, most of his active clients were once developers on Beyond Skyrim. De Groot has had the opportunity to work on many other soundtracks on a smaller scale, on top of meeting several talented artists who’ve since made album covers for him. Berg has similarly had success, calling the gravity his project credit has “Overwhelming.” Berg has been interviewed by the BBC on his work, met musicians like Chrissy Taylor and Vela Farguharson, and started a small YouTube channel. “While I can’t say that the project has specifically been attributed to one opportunity or another,” he says, it has certainly launched my music career.” ASKII’s music was introduced to a broader audience through his work on Tamriel Rebuilt. “It’s become a meaningful part of my portfolio, and I feel honored to contribute to something with such legacy,” he said.
Portal
Portal mods are taking a similar path. Popular mods such as Portal Stories: Mel and Portal Reloaded both have their own unique soundtracks. Jared Poolaw collaborated with Ella Ayar for the soundtrack to the mod Portal Revolution, which released in 2024 on Steam to overwhelmingly positive reviews and adds an entirely new storyline independent of the base game of Portal 2.
Composing for Portal mods is a similarly challenging task, according to Jared Poolaw. Poolaw says the initial process of composing for Portal Revolution was “Surreal.” The project was intimidating at times and he admits, “There were many times where I felt like I bit off more than I could chew,” yet he adds, “I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking that.” Like other composers, Poolaw “tried to make sure every test chamber’s music sounded meditative and reminiscent of the first Portal’s soundtrack while also trying to mix in bits from Portal 2 and Half-Life.” Poolaw says his work on Portal Revolution has yet to open up any other opportunities so far, but says he’s glad to have it in his portfolio.
The Future
Most of the composers are in consensus — even more mods will have soundtracks in the future. Ran said his soundtrack is not the first and won’t be the last: “The barrier to entry is low enough now that getting paid for the work isn’t necessary any more, and streaming platforms like Spotify have made it easier to earn money than ever before, despite its drawbacks.” De Groot and Poolaw both agree that mod soundtracks will become more prevalent going forward and that working on one is one of the best ways for aspiring composers to get experience and build up a portfolio. “I think these kinds of modding projects are quite special and I’m glad to see them highlighted, specifically from an audio and music perspective,” said de Groot.
— J. Barnes
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