Newly-launched Ivors Composers Awards will honor video game composers
The Ivors Academy, the UK nonprofit organization best known for the long-running Ivor Novello Awards, has announced a new dedicated award ceremony for composers. The Ivors Composer Awards will take place in London on November 17, 2026, recognizing compositional excellence across video games, film, television, live performance, and commercial recordings.
The new ceremony represents a significant expansion of the Ivors Academy’s 71-year legacy of championing compositional excellence. Since 1956, the organization has honored remarkable composers, and this event marks an “elevated moment” dedicated specifically to celebrating their craft. The awards will be open to British, Irish, and UK resident composers, with submissions opening on June 1 for the 2026 awards. Winners will receive an Ivor Novello Award.
This move reflects the growing recognition of video game music as a significant artistic medium. Video games have previously been acknowledged through the Ivor Novello Awards—notably, Killzone 2 received recognition when the video game category was introduced. The new dedicated ceremony aims to broaden recognition and reflect the contemporary composition landscape across multiple industries, positioning video game composers alongside their peers in film, television, and other media.