Rift of the Necrodancer was one of the very first games I ever wrote music for... and it won a Best Music award last night at the indie awards!
On top of that, our soundtrack was also nominated for the Steam Awards alongside my absolute favorite OST of the year: Expedition 33.
It's kinda funny seeing them there together, but in a way it also makes total sense too.
Despite being wildly different, Rift and Expedition 33's soundtracks have a very important key factor in common that made them what they are.
It's something I've noticed when I interviewed Lorien Testard and Guillaume Broche from Sandfall earlier this year, which can be summarized into a single word:
Trust.
Lorien is a composer with a lot to say, whose musical intuition comes from a pure place of passion and reverence for the art. Guillaume, the game director, saw this and trusted Lorien's musical choices across the board while working on Expedition 33.
I asked them if they ever had moments of contention or creative mismatches, and they clearly answered: no.
Guillaume always let Lorien cook, encouraging him and trusting his vision every step of the way, allowing him to create a soundtrack that will echo for generations to come.
Interestingly, I think this was the very same dynamic between Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu during the earlier Final Fantasy games.
I've had the pleasure of working on a number of games these past few years and I've noticed that, sometimes, there are directors who really micro-manage you and make you doubt your own creative voice in ways that will inevitably lead to make your music worse.
And then there's people like Guillaume, whose trust, respect and excitement lead you to do your best work.
People who "let you cook".
I was extremely fortunate in this respect many times in my career, working with very capable folks who saw the best in me and got the best out of me.
The very first team who did this in my case is the one I'm celebrating in this post: Rift of the Necrodancer's team!
We had a ragtag crew of composers in this project, from different countries, different walks of life but most especially very different music styles.
( @dannyBstyle , @FamilyJules7x , @visagermusic , @hollett_samuel , @nicknausbaum & my secret weapon: @Aram_Zero )
At every step of the way, the entire Rift team has been nothing but supportive, appreciative, curious and pushed us to truly get crazy, never making us doubt our creative voice.
I want to believe that it's not a coincidence that the game's soundtrack ended up being so beloved that it goes all the way to winning / being nominated for awards.
I can't take much credit for it, as I was just one of several composers who worked on it after all!
But I do take pride on the whole team, for how amazing they have been to work with.
Sending my congrats to them, and a high five to all game directors out there who let their composers cook!
Steel thyself.
‘Tis more than meets thine eye.
Repost, follow & guess the character correctly for a chance to win a key to the music pack on October 30, 2025 👀
✨TORNEO DE VALORANT 1v1 - SKIRMISH✨
Premio de un Pase de Batalla o 1,150 VP
🌟 Para participar:
1️⃣ Sigue a @LittleVenuxs en Twitch e Instagram
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#VALORANT
I got a Silksong Any% speedrun in 1:26:20!
Currently 2nd place, with only 3 deaths in the run. I should be able to cut another 10 minutes out with a deathless run. So exciting to be part of the early speedrun push!
WR tomorrow!
⚔️ #SILKSONG#HOLLOWKNIGHT GIVEAWAY ⚔️
🏆 We’re giving away 1×copy of silksong Or 20$
➡️ TO ENTER:
1️⃣ Follow @Mistywaifu
2️⃣ Like & Retweet This post
3️⃣ Comment your platform
🗓️Giveaway ends on September 4🏆
All platforms and regions can participate.
Qué bonito es pensar que Team Cherry haya podido pulir Silksong todo lo que quisieron, sin prisas y que haya disfrutado tanto del desarrollo
Por otro lado, decir “un par de años más de sueldos, no pasa nada” suena hoy a ciencia ficción en esta industria, y más en estudios indie
🚨 OJO 🚨
Team Cherry explica porque Hollow Knight Silksong tardó 7 años en desarrollarse:
"No hubo complicaciones en el desarrollo, simplemente somos un equipo pequeño y los juegos requieren mucho tiempo en desarrollarse"