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Track: Dark Ages (Total War Battles: KINGDOM). This track is a winner of two Gold Medals from the Global Music Awards (Best Game Music & Best Composer). More info here: http://bit.ly/1hy9Lmf

Multi-million-selling Total War is one of the most critically-acclaimed and popular series in gaming, now in its 15th year. A drive for historical authenticity and superb gaming quality has helped establish the franchise as one of the most successful and famous game series of all time. The Total War franchise has won numerous awards, including two BAFTA Awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and an Ivor Novello Award. The video game franchise was also the basis of two television shows: Decisive Battles on the History Channel, and Time Commanders on the BBC. Alongside the core historical-based games, the Total War series has expanded to include the free-to-play mobile title, Total War Battles™: KINGDOM.

The track entitled “Dark Ages (Total War Battles: KINGDOM)” is composed by award-winning game composer Winifred Phillips and performed by a live ensemble of accomplished musicians performing with historically authentic medieval instruments and techniques. The ensemble includes one of Europe’s top lute players, and members of this ensemble have graced the concert stages of such venues as the Royal Opera House, The Royal Festival Hall, and Kensington Palace, among many others. Winifred Phillips composed tracks for Total War Battles: KINGDOM as part of a team of composers who each worked separately to compose their own tracks for the game. Each composer brought unique strengths to the project. For the tracks she composed, Phillips drew upon her experience as a veteran game composer responsible for the music of many triple-A games. Phillips’ repertoire has repeatedly focused on many culturally rich historical projects, including her intricate baroque compositions for Assassin’s Creed Liberation and the ancient Mediterranean music she created for God of War.

For “Dark Ages (Total War Battles: KINGDOM),” Phillips combined evocative and lush aural designs with a consort of period instruments and authentic medieval modes. These techniques came together to transport listeners into the mysterious world of the Dark Ages. Phillips worked with award-winning music producer Winnie Waldron on the Total War Battles: KINGDOM project. For her work as a game composer, Phillips has won three Hollywood Music in Media Awards, six Game Audio Network Guild Awards, five Global Music Awards and an Interactive Achievement Award, among others.

Musicians:

Lute: Elizabeth Kenny
Recorders, Fife, Flute: Chloe Lochbaum
Vielle, Hurdy Gurdy: Sylvia Hallett
Hurdy Gurdy: Sue Eaton
Mandola: Andy Reynolds
Celtic Harp: Heather Wrighton
Cello: Richard Harwood

More About Total War Battles: KINGDOM:

Creative Assembly’s Total War Battles™: KINGDOM is set during the chaotic turn of the 10th Century, as the world starts to emerge from the Dark Ages. Players will find themselves managing the needs of their own fiefdom and guarding against the machinations of neighboring kingdoms. Deception, spying and outright betrayal against enemies and friends alike will see the devious player rewarded. “We wanted to create a new way of playing Total War Battles. Whether that’s on the move or at work over lunch,” said Renaud Charpentier, Creative Assembly Digital Project Lead. “It shouldn’t matter where you want to play; we want to make it easy to come back again and again to your flourishing Kingdom. Then, we ramp up the complexity and challenge, adding more options to your Machiavellian schemes.”

Founded in 1987, Creative Assembly is one of the UK’s most successful and established game studios. Creator of the multi award-winning Total War strategy series, the studio has received numerous press, industry and consumer accolades, including BAFTAs and the Develop Industry Excellence awards. Home to over 325 highly talented developers and counting, the studio continues to expand to cover a variety of triple-A console, PC and mobile projects.