Grant Kirkhope Of DK Rap Fame Wants To Soundtrack Assassin's Creed

Published Nov 3, 2026, 6:31 PM EST Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 3,000 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, provided context on some AI drama, and revealed that Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on three occasions. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. Grant Kirkhope has had an illustrious career. In addition to winning an Ivor Novello Award for his work on Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, the composer has created music for games like Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata, Street Fighter 6, World of Warcraft, and Sid Meier's Civilization. His whimsical style suits more cartoony games, and he's a big reason for Rare's popularity in the late 90s and early 2000s, but he's a serious composer. Having worked with Ubisoft a few times over recent years, I asked Kirkhope if there was any series from the developer he'd like to tackle, and his answer surprised me, saying an Assassin's Creed game would be "a really cool project to work on". Grant Kirkhope Wants To Soundtrack An Assassin's Creed Game, So Hire Him Ubisoft Grant Kirkhope and Ubisoft are forming a strong relationship. In 2017, he created the soundtrack for Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, and a few years later, he did the same for its sequel, Sparks of Hope—including its Rayman-focused DLC, Rayman in the Phantom Shadow. This ultimately led to him getting the gig creating the music for Rayman Legends Retold's Night of the Livid Dead level, which we interviewed him about (and you can read it right here). I asked Kirkhope if there was any other Ubisoft IP he'd like to work on, and Assassin's Creed sprang to mind. “I'd love to have a crack at that, I've got to say. That would be a really cool project to work on, because it's such a cool game. And it's been through so many iterations of different scenarios,” he says. “London, Japan, the big massive Viking one. I’d love to do it. I think it’s unlikely, but I’d love to." With such an interesting answer, I asked the composer if there were a time period and location for an Assassin's Creed game he'd be particularly keen to work on. “Since I’m Scottish, it would have to be the whole Scotland-against-England thing. Back in the Middle Ages. William Wallace. Robert the Bruce. I could be there. I could do that. Get me my bagpipes,” he tells me. While it's clear he's enjoying working on Ubisoft titles, Kirkhope admitted he wouldn't be working on Beyond Good and Evil. Despite saying it looked "super cool", when I posed the question to him, the answer was a resounding "no." Released July 9, 2026 ESRB Mature 17+ / Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence / In-Game Purchases, Users Interact Developer(s) Ubisoft Publisher(s) Ubisoft Franchise Assassin's Creed Genre(s) Action, Adventure