The Music Had to Come From Somewhere

Even if you donʼt know Wintory by name, you probably know his work. Whether itʼs the aquatic atmosphere of Abzû, the staccato strings of Assassinʼs Creed: Syndicate, or the brick-y bass of the Lego Fortnite theme, Austin Wintory has scored games of all shapes and sizes. When he first started writing music, it was always his dream to get to do it for video games. However, like many people interested in the gaming industry, he thought it seemed too far-fetched to be realistic. 

Wintory didn’t show any interest in music until he realized he could play the themes from Star Wars and Indiana Jones on the piano. “On a whim,” his parents, neither of whom were musicians, signed him up for lessons, and his teacher brought in vinyl records of film scores for them to learn together.

“As much as I loved movies, I didnʼt have the necessary intelligence to realize that the music that I liked had to come from somewhere,” Wintory says. “I knew the Star Wars soundtrack backward and forward, but I couldnʼt have told you the name John Williams.” Once his teacher opened his eyes to the concept of a composer, Wintory says he knew thatʼs what he wanted to do with his life.