Gareth Coker

He has composed work for video games, including Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, ARK: Survival Evolved, ARK: Survival Ascended, Halo Infinite and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Coker learned the piano at a very early age.

[2] He later moved to Los Angeles, where he juggled between composing for video games and the University of Southern California's film scoring program.

[5] In 2011, Coker composed the accompanying music to the game's prototype after studio director Thomas Mahler had stumbled upon his work.

[10] Kirk Hamilton of Kotaku appreciated the score's orchestral approach, comparing it to the works of Joe Hisaishi on the Studio Ghibli films.

“...it ticked several boxes for Studio Wildcard, who had essentially given me an open brief and also said that they didn't want it to sound like John Williams’ Jurassic Park.

He also attributes the success of the recording sessions to his additional eyes and ears, Zach Lemmon, and his conductor, Alexander Rudd.

[2] To make this feel like a blend of both worlds, Coker focused on using solo instruments from the region, such as erhu, dizi, hulusi and xiao, and then limited himself (mostly) to the more traditional Chinese harmony and scales.

[19] For the expansion of Immortals Fenyx Rising, Eastern Realms DLC, Coker included Chinese instruments into the soundscape.

[20] The original Halo score, composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, is deeply ingrained in the series’ identity.

“As opposed to a game like Doom Eternal, where the Slayer moves at an intense pace mowing down demons to filthy djent riffs, the reaction NPCs have when they see Master Chief arriving on the battlefield is in and of itself a prompt to let subtler music do heavier lifting”.

Coker was brought on to the score for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, along with composers Yoko Shimomura and Grant Kirkhope.

“The three talents were tactically deployed across the score by audio director Romain Brillaud, bringing different orchestral and electronic sensibilities to the game... Coker helped bring new colours and emotions to specific settings in the game as well as some boss fights, touching on styles including French impressionism to enrich the score”.

He highlights the unique blend of various musical elements in the game's soundtrack, including a combination of synths, guitars, Persian instruments, and a 70-piece orchestra.