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Wilbert Roget II

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Wilbert Roget II
Born (1983-12-07) December 7, 1983 (age 40)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genresvideo game score
OccupationComposer
Years active2006–present
LabelsMateria Collective

Wilbert Roget II (born December 7, 1983)[1] is an American composer known for his work on video game music, particularly Mortal Kombat 11 (2019), Call of Duty: WWII (2017), Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, (2014)[2] and Helldivers 2 (2024).[2] His scores have won multiple awards and nominations from the Game Audio Network Guild and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.

Early life and education

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Roget grew up in Philadelphia and starting playing piano at the age of four. He became interested in the possibilities of cinematic storytelling in video games during high school, and found particular inspiration in Japanese video game and anime soundtracks such as Nobuo Uematsu's[3] and Hitoshi Sakimoto's music for the Final Fantasy series[4][5] and Yoko Kanno's music for Cowboy Bebop.[6] He earned a BA in music at Yale University in 2005, studying with composition faculty including Kathryn Alexander and Matthew Suttor.

Career

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Roget joined LucasArts as a staff composer in 2008, where he scored Star Wars franchise games including Star Wars: The Old Republic[7] and served as music editor on various titles. His final soundtrack for LucasArts was the unreleased Star Wars: First Assault, a live orchestral score recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios.[8] He then left LucasArts to pursue a freelance career.

Working freelance, Roget has scored major titles such as Call of Duty: WWII, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, and Mortal Kombat 11, as well as independent titles such as Anew: The Distant Light. He often records his own flute, keyboard, accordion, and guitar parts. When discussing his influences, he often cites classical music; for example, his Call of Duty score was influenced by Claude Vivier's "Zipangu," Toru Takemitsu's "Requiem for String Orchestra," and Krzysztof Penderecki's "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima."[9] In Forbes, Erik Kain declared that the Call of Duty score made him "an instant fan."[6]

Roget is also a sample library developer, and products from his audio software company Impact Soundworks are widely used in film and video game composition.[8]

Although Roget works primarily in the music industry, he is also active in academic music programs. He served as visiting faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from 2018-2019 in the Department of Technology and Applied Composition,[10] and has guest lectured at Yale University[4] and the University of Rochester.[11] In 2016, he completed a solo carillon commission, Island Stones, for the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He has also given talks and appeared on panels at the Game Developers Conference, ASCAP Expo, PAX, PAX Dev,[12] and MAGFest.[13]

Awards and recognition

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Roget's scores have earned multiple awards and nominations from the Game Audio Network Guild (GANG) and the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS). In 2018, he swept the GANG Awards for Music of the Year, Best Interactive Score, Best Original Instrumental (tied), Best Game Audio Article/Publication, and Best Soundtrack Album for his Call of Duty: WWII soundtrack,[14] which was also nominated for the D.I.C.E. Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition." In 2014, his soundtrack for Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris was nominated for the D.I.C.E. Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition", and the GANG Awards for Music of the Year and Best Original Instrumental. In 2012, his soundtrack for Star Wars: The Old Republic won the GANG Award for Best Original Instrumental. In 2009, his soundtrack for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was nominated for three GANG Awards. He also received GANG Awards in 2011, 2010, and 2006.[15]

Discography

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Composer

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Video games
Title Year System Notes
Star Wars: The Old Republic 2011 Windows
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris 2014 PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One
Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire 2017 Windows, Mac OS X Tracks include: Army of the War God, Enter the Fire God, Minions of Kralkatorrik, Undead of Elona, and Eternal Conflict
Call of Duty: WWII 2017 PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One
Destiny 2: Forsaken 2018 Stadia, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One
Mortal Kombat 11 2019 PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, Nintendo Switch Main theme and story mode music, gameplay music composed by Matthias Wolf and Armin Haas of Dynamedion.
Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series[16] 2019 Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift S
Call of Duty: Mobile 2020–2021 Android, iOS Season 9 and Season 5 2021 - In Deep Water
Mortal Kombat 1[17] 2023 PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows, Nintendo Switch
Helldivers 2[18] 2024 PlayStation 5, Windows
Pacific Drive 2024 PlayStation 5, Windows
Star Wars Outlaws[19] 2024 PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows
Animated series
Title Year Notes
Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance 2024 Netflix ONA series[20]

Other credits

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Video games
Title Year System Notes
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2008 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Music editing and implementation
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance 2008 Nintendo DS Music editor
Fracture 2008 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Music editor
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes 2009 Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS Music assistant
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron 2009 PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS Music assistant
Lucidity 2009 Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 Piano on "Carte d'Etoile"
Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues 2009 Macintosh, PlayStation 3, Wii, Windows, Xbox 360 Music editing
Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings 2009 PlayStation 2, Wii Music editing
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II 2010 PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 Additional compositions, music editing
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars 2011 Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable Music editing

References

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  1. ^ "Wilbert Roget, II - Concerts, Biography & News - BBC Music". BBC. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  2. ^ a b "Wilbert Roget II". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  3. ^ "Meet the Seattle composer who scored the latest 'Call of Duty' blockbuster video game". GeekWire. 2017-11-25. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  4. ^ a b Lee, Selena (December 1, 2017). "Can You Hear the Call of Duty?". yaledailynews.com. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  5. ^ Carabatsos, Julia (28 November 2017). "Yale alum composes Call of Duty score". yaledailynews.com. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  6. ^ a b Kain, Erik. "Interview: Wilbert Roget II On Composing Call Of Duty: World War 2's Original Score". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  7. ^ Roget, Wilbert II (2018-01-10). "Interview with Call of Duty: WWII Composer Wilbert Roget, II". The Sound Architect (Interview). Interviewed by Hughes, Sam. Archived from the original on 2019-08-14.
  8. ^ a b "Visiting Faculty". SFCM. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  9. ^ Square, Push (2017-11-19). "Interview: Discussing the Music of Call of Duty: WWII with composer Wilbert Roget II". Push Square. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  10. ^ "Visiting Faculty | SFCM". sfcm.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  11. ^ "Event : Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences". www.hajim.rochester.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  12. ^ "Materia Collective - Wilbert Roget, II". Materia Collective. Retrieved 14 Aug 2019.
  13. ^ "MAGFest G.A.N.G. Remix Competition 2019 Results!". www.audiogang.org. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  14. ^ "2018 G.A.N.G. Awards Press Release". www.audiogang.org. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  15. ^ "Wilbert Roget". www.audiogang.org. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  16. ^ "Exclusive: Hear Four New Songs from the 'Mortal Kombat 11' Soundtrack". www.yahoo.com. 28 June 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
  17. ^ @WilbertRoget (February 8, 2024). "So happy to announce I'm returning once again as Principal Composer of #MortalKombat #MK1 !! It's been a wild ride and I'm so proud of what the game team has accomplished. Check out our reveal trailer:" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. ^ @WilbertRoget (January 25, 2024). "Excited to announce my score to the upcoming #Helldivers2 ! One of my most challenging orchestral OSTs yet, combining tongue-in-cheek military action with 90s sci-fi horror and extensive synthesis. Check out the trailer linked below, featuring excerpts from my score: #gamemusic:" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ^ @WilbertRoget (June 12, 2023). "It's a huge honor to finally announce I'm the lead composer of #StarWarsOutlaws !! Super grateful to return to my "alma mater" franchise, and I'm routinely amazed with how the game's shaping up. Please check out our story trailer:" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Tai, Anita (December 3, 2023). "Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance Animation's 2nd Teaser Announces Netflix Global Debut". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
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