God of War Ragnarok released a couple of weeks ago to stellar reviews, with plenty of praise pointed at lead composer Bear McCreary’s excellent soundtrack. However, the game also featured a number of contributing musicians, but one music contributor states that she wasn’t properly credited for her work because she failed to meet a ‘minimum criteria’ at Santa Monica Studio.
Speaking on Twitter, music contributor Jessica Mao says Santa Monica Studio never credited her work in the end credits, stating that she didn’t meet a minimum criteria that allowed her to be properly accredited by the developer. Mao adds that Santa Monica Studio never really explained to her what this minimum criteria was either. Before we continue, Mao’s work includes potential spoilers for the early game, so be warned before proceeding.
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Mao edited, arranged and implemented the music for two key scenes in the opening hours of God of War Ragnarok: Freya’s chase scene and Thor’s early boss fight. She particularly highlighted the latter, calling it a “fun exercise” in rearranging music:
“The original mix was too fully orchestrated and had to be toned down to make room to grow in later phases. I made new stems using different combinations of the original stems in ways that I felt best musically.”
“I was told that to be credited, my contribution to the game must hit some minimum criteria,” she later added. Santa Monica Studio failed to mention what the minimum criteria was, with Mao calling the entire experience very discouraging and disappointing. She urged the developers to reconsider their approach to properly crediting all artists in the future.
God of War Ragnarok is up for 10 nominations at The Game Awards this year, including Best Score/Music and Game of the Year. Check out the full list of nominees and make sure you get your vote in.
God of War Ragnarok is currently available for PS4 and PS5.
Source: Jessica Mao
