The turn of the millennium ushered in greater exposure, music industry consideration and recognition for orchestras performing videogame scores as the Budapest Symphony Orchestra was commissioned to provide the orchestral music for Hitman: Codename 47 (2000). The orchestra continued to provide the soundtrack for Hitman 2, the sequel to this video game. That same year the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) included video game compositions/scores as part of the annual Grammy awards. This opened the doors for composers of videogame scores and soundtracks to become recognized for professional artistic excellence in music in one of three existing categories: Best Soundtrack Album; Best Song; or Best Instrumental Composition for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

With the growth in interest and development in video game music, Internet radio commercial services such as Live 345, Shoutcast and WGDG Videogame Music were born. Past and present soundtracks and themes as well as the music from videogame commercials continued to be aired.

A number of composers were commissioned to compose videogame scores throughout the first decade of the 21st century. Inon Zur (b. 1965), a graduate of the Music Academy of the University of Tel Aviv and University of California Los Angeles, composed sweeping orchestral scores for Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (2005) and Prince of Persia (2008). These works were performed by the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra. Showcasing his powerful and evocative orchestral writing, he blends the richness of symphonic tradition with the exotic elements of the East.

Orchestral scores for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008) were composed by English composer Harry Gregson-Williams (b. 1961), a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in Great Britain. He remains active composing for videogames as his score for Modern Warfare 2 promises to be another orchestral triumph and is scheduled for release in November of 2009.

A small amount of critical writing dealing with videogame music continues. As is historically the case in eclectic forms, no one party tends to step up and take critical ownership. This will likely change and increase as other authors observe the prevalence of high-quality orchestral scores for videogames and provide qualitative commentary, discussions and critiques. Such resources as Glenn McDonald’s A Brief Timeline of Video Game Music and Mathew Belinkie's (1999) History of Game Music can be accessed online at the Video Game Music Archive. An example of a texted source is David Bessell's (2002) chapter on the topic included within Screenplay: cinema/videogame/interface and a dissertation by Paul Weir on sound design and structural approaches to music in games, but substantial research has not been done in this area.

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