Fans Can't Help Laughing At Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Historic Grammy Win
"Assassin's Creed Valhalla" may have made history at the 2023 Grammy Awards, but it's safe to say the occasion didn't go off without a hitch.
For the first time in the music-based award show's lengthy history, video games were recognized at the Grammys with their very own bespoke category: Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media. A number of heavy-hitting titles like "Call of Duty: Vanguard" and "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" were nominated, but it was "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" — more specifically, the 2020 game's third DLC expansion, "Dawn of Ragnarök" — that ended up being the one to take home the gold.
This win at the Grammys was a major moment, both for the long-running Ubisoft franchise and for games in general. However, the significance of the occasion wasn't what many viewers were focusing on in the wake of the game's big win. Instead, a slight mishap made during the announcement of the category's winner had fans laughing rather than clapping.
Assassin's Creed...what?
When the time came for the Grammys to announce the winner of Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, it was up to pre-show host Randy Rainbow to do the honors. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the comedian had a chance to rehearse the names of the nominees beforehand. "The Grammy goes to 'Assassin's... Creed Vuh-LAH-huh," the announcer said with a perplexed expression on his face. Rainbow's tentative intonation and mispronunciation of "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" proved amusing to fans and the moment went viral, with one clip amassing over 90,000 likes on Twitter.
can’t stop laughing at this guy announcing the Grammy win for Assassin's Creed Valhalla pic.twitter.com/vz9bTVZFTX
— Wendell (@RhodeToLove) February 5, 2023
"I love that you can see the brief look of panic in his face when he first saw the name," Twitter user @_A_Nope responded. Other fans felt like the moment perfectly encapsulated video games' black-sheep status in mainstream media coverage. "The sheer cringe of the established prestige structure being forced to wrap its head around video games is glorious to watch," u/Zealousideal-Exit224 wrote.
In fairness, this Grammys mishap is far from the only time that the name of a nominee or winner has been mispronounced at a major awards show, even when the show in question is geared towards video games. A similar incident occurred at the 2021 Game Awards, when basketball star Aerial Powers mispronounced "Genshin Impact" while announcing it as the winner for Best Mobile Game. In any case, "Assassin's Creed Valhalla" still left the Grammys with a major award. Fans just happened to get a new gaming meme out of the event, too.