Spotify wanted a real seat in gaming culture.
Game soundtracks shape how people play. They drive story, pacing, and most importantly emotion. Gaming also shapes how fans discover music. The opportunity was to show up inside the biggest night in gaming in a way that felt earned and authentic.
We partnered with The Game Awards and led with music.
The goals were clear. Show up credibly. Celebrate iconic new music. Launch exclusive Spotify Singles inspired by major gaming franchises. Position Spotify as a true home for gaming music. Establish an ongoing partnership with The Game Awards and build a presence year after year.
The work centered around iconic video game music. We wanted to truly champion and create within that beautiful intersecion of music and gaming. Three exclusive Spotify Singles. Three artists with real ties to gaming. Three reimagined tracks rooted in franchises fans deeply care about.
Bilmuri transformed Cyberpunk Edgerunners into a metalcore anthem. Gunship remixed Evanescence’s “Afterlife” from Devil May Cry with brand-new Amy Lee vocals. Labrinth reinterpreted the Sonic the Hedgehog theme through his cinematic lens.
The Singles premiered through a :30 hero anthem during the live broadcast, teasing the tracks directly inside the show and making them part of the awards experience. Retro cartridge-inspired artwork anchored the visual system. The tracks premiered immediately after Lenny Kravitz announced our sponsored category of Best Score and Music, followed by Evanescence’s performance of “Afterlife.” Spotify was woven directly into the night’s biggest music moments organically.
The campaign extended across Spotify through on-platform promotion, social, and out-of-home in Los Angeles and New York Penn Plaza. We also launched Spotify Gaming, a brand-new VODcast hub for music-focused gaming content. The Game Awards became the first major global awards show ever hosted natively on Spotify, available on demand for millions of listeners and viewers. Fans received collectible trading cards at the show, turning the Singles into physical artifacts inspired by gaming culture. Artists led. Franchise lore was respected. The experience felt native to gamers and meaningful to music fans.
The response was immediate, with millions of streams across the exclusive Spotify Singles and The Game Awards content, signaling strong appetite for gaming-inspired music introduced within a culturally relevant moment.
The Game Awards video on demand generated over 1.4 million plays, marking the first time the full show was available to stream on Spotify. The episode also reached #85 on the Global Podcast chart, extending fan engagement beyond the live event and signaling strong demand for the format.
The Spotify Singles performed strongly on platform. Bilmuri’s track reached over 2.4 million plays, the Evanescence and Gunship collaboration surpassed 1.5 million plays, and Labrinth’s track generated more than 750,000 plays. Together, the releases showed sustained interest across multiple artists and genres, reinforcing the resonance of game-inspired music with Spotify’s audience.
The releases also sparked conversation across social platforms, with fans sharing reactions to the tracks and celebrating the crossover between gaming and music. In parallel, the announcement and releases generated earned media coverage, extending awareness of the collaboration beyond the awards broadcast.
By launching the music within the awards show and supporting it through a coordinated rollout across platform, social, and video, Spotify connected artists, fans, and gaming culture at scale. These results demonstrate that leading with music and cultural credibility can drive meaningful engagement while expanding relevance within gaming-adjacent spaces.
