I can’t even begin to tell you how much I respect Jason Hayes. He was involved in doing the music for a bunch of Blizzard titles, including World of Warcraft. The theme that is technically known as “Legends of Azeroth” but I’ll always think of the ‘login theme’ will probably be something I can hum on my deathbed. Gamespot has up an interview with the composer, who reveals he’s now working on NCSoft on an as-yet-unannounced project. I am serious when I say I’ll probably have to play it just to hear his work.

With a massively multiplayer online game like Warcraft it’s a very long creative timing around the game. If ever I can find an excuse to play music, where I can find something to hang my hat on–like you walk into Stormwind and you see that wonderful entryway with the statues and you have almost an establishing shot for the human city. Whenever a moment like that comes up, it’s great because I can say, “now I can bring in the big Stormwind regal theme and let the music take a little bit of a special moment to explain something about what you’re seeing.” It’s looking for those hooks to be able to find a good reason to have music come in in a way that feels meaningful instead of just a wallpaper treatment that’s draped over the background of the whole game.