Total War Battles: Kingdom

Total War Battles Kingdom - Winifred Phillips

Winifred Phillips won 2 Global Music Award Gold Medals for the music she composed for Total War Battles: Kingdom.

I’m happy to announce that one of my latest projects is Total War Battles: Kingdom, developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. I was happy to join the music composition team for this fantastic project! Along with my long-time music producer Winnie Waldron, I worked with Creative Assembly’s audio manager Richard Beddow to compose atmospheric medieval-inspired music for this awesome upcoming strategy game.

I’m also very happy to share that my music for Total War Battles: Kingdom has already been recognized with two Gold Medals from the Global Music Awards!  My music producer Winnie Waldron and I received a Gold Medal in the category of Game Music, and I received an additional Gold Medal in the category of Composition/Composer.

I won the two Global Music Awards Gold Medals for “Dark Ages” – a track I composed for Total War Battles: Kingdom.  I was hired by Creative Assembly to join a team of composers who each worked separately to compose their own tracks for the game. Each composer brought unique strengths to the project, and I was proud to work with my award-winning music producer Winnie Waldron to compose my own tracks for this terrific game!

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Two Global Music Award Gold Medals recognizing music composed by Winifred Phillips & produced by Winnie Waldron for the game Total War Battles: Kingdom.

 

Here is a YouTube video containing my award-winning music from Total War Battles: Kingdom:

Total War Battles: Kingdom is the latest game in the popular, multi-million-selling Total War franchise. Now in its 15th year, Total War is one of the most famous and critically-acclaimed series in gaming!  Here’s some info about the Total War franchise:

A drive for historical authenticity and superb gaming quality has helped establish the franchise as one of the most successful games of all time. The Total War franchise has won numerous awards, including two BAFTA Awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and an Ivor Novello Award. The video game franchise was also the basis of two television shows: Decisive Battles on the History Channel, and Time Commanders on the BBC. Alongside the core historical-based games, the Total War series has expanded to include the mobile title, Total War Battles: Kingdom.

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My music for Total War Battles: Kingdom was performed by a live ensemble comprised of some of the best and most accomplished musicians performing with historically authentic medieval instruments and techniques. The ensemble includes one of Europe’s top lute players, and members of this ensemble have graced the concert stages of such venues as the Royal Opera House, The Royal Festival Hall, and Kensington Palace, among many others. For Total War Battles: Kingdom, I combined evocative aural designs with a consort of period instruments and medieval modes. I used these techniques to transport listeners into the mysterious world of the Dark Ages. Here are the musicians who performed my music for Total War Battles: Kingdom:

Musicians:

  • Lute: Elizabeth Kenny
  • Recorders, Fife, Flute: Chloe Lochbaum
  • Vielle, Hurdy Gurdy: Sylvia Hallett
  • Hurdy Gurdy: Sue Eaton
  • Mandola: Andy Reynolds
  • Celtic Harp: Heather Wrighton
  • Cello: Richard Harwood
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From left to right: Elizabeth Kenny (Lute), Richard Harwood (Cello), Sylvia Hallett (Hurdy Gurdy), and Heather Wrighton (Harp)

Here’s some more information about the game:

Creative Assembly’s Total War Battles: Kingdom is set during the chaotic turn of the 10th Century, as the world starts to emerge from the Dark Ages. Players will find themselves managing the needs of their own fiefdom and guarding against the machinations of neighboring kingdoms. Deception, spying and outright betrayal against enemies and friends alike will see the devious player rewarded. “We wanted to create a new way of playing Total War Battles. Whether that’s on the move or at work over lunch,” said Renaud Charpentier, Creative Assembly Digital Project Lead. “It shouldn’t matter where you want to play; we want to make it easy to come back again and again to your flourishing Kingdom. Then, we ramp up the complexity and challenge, adding more options to your Machiavellian schemes.”

Founded in 1987, Creative Assembly is one of the UK’s most successful and established game studios. Creator of the multi award-winning Total War strategy series, the studio has received numerous press, industry and consumer accolades, including BAFTAs and the Develop Industry Excellence awards.  Home to over 325 highly talented developers and counting, the studio continues to expand to cover a variety of triple-A console, PC and mobile projects.

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Studio1_GreenWinifred Phillips is an award-winning video game music composer whose most recent project is the triple-A first person shooter Homefront: The Revolution. Her credits include five of the most famous and popular franchises in video gaming: Assassin’s Creed, LittleBigPlanet, Total War, God of War, and The Sims. She is the author of the award-winning bestseller A COMPOSER’S GUIDE TO GAME MUSIC, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. As a VR game music expert, she writes frequently on the future of music in virtual reality video games. Follow her on Twitter @winphillips.

A COMPOSER’S GUIDE TO GAME MUSIC wins a Global Music Award (GMA Book Award)

The Global Music Awards has presented a Gold Medal Award of Excellence as a GMA Book Award this year to the book that has been judged as exceptional in the field of music.  I’m very proud that my book, A Composer’s Guide to Game Music, has received the GMA Book Award!

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As the GMA Book Award winner, A Composer’s Guide to Game Music has been awarded the Global Music Awards medallion.  The GMA medallion was designed for the GMAs by the Northwest Territorial Mint, creators of the official US Presidential Inaugural Medals, the Medal of Honor, the National Medal of Science and the Pulitzer Prize. GMA Awards feature the art of Thomas Hart Benton, who is considered the “Mark Twain” of American art.  The Global Music Awards is an international awards program honoring the music industry through the recognition of unique voices and talented international musical artists.  

Thanks so much to the judging panel of the Global Music Awards for this wonderful honor!  I’m very excited to be a recipient of the GMA Book Award!