Standing in the corridor of Prague’s futuristic event space O2 Universum are a handful of medieval knights drinking beer from plastic cups. Behind them, a pair of troublesome troubadours ride up and down the escalators, singing and encouraging unsuspecting people to join in with their boisterous folk anthems. You wouldn’t get this ahead of Lady Gaga’s ‘Mayhem Ball’ arena run but it’s the perfect introduction to the first orchestral concert for Middle Ages adventure game Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. The franchise’s motto is “Audentes Fortuna Iuvat!” AKA “Fortune Favours The Brave”, and tonight, the fanbase have definitely taken that to heart.
The first Kingdom Come: Deliverance was released in 2018 after years of plotting and pitching from series creator Daniel Vávra, who also wrote the first two Mafia games. Publishers weren’t initially convinced about an action-role-playing game set in 15th century Bohemia, especially since the Czech-based Warhorse Studios wanted to celebrate historical accuracy and avoid the magic and monsters of other successful sword-wielding epics such as The Witcher. Plenty of gamers were convinced, though, raising more than £1million via a Kickstarter that had only asked for £300,000.
The game went on to sell more than eight million copies and earlier this year, a larger, more ambitious sequel was released with similar fanfare. Perhaps the best bit about KCD is its music. Composed by Jan Valta, his orchestral scores are as grand as the “behemoth” plotlines with soaring choirs, thundering percussion and stirring trumpet blasts. They’re also elastic enough to match the emotionally-charged journey players embark on. During the mesmerising Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 concert, 3500 fans sit in tense silence as the violent rebellion against usurper King Sigismund Of Luxembourg plays out on the giant video screen before merrily clapping along to the more light-hearted moments featuring the ragtag group of heroes. Even after two encores, cries of “přídavek” echo around the room.
“This might be too simple an explanation [for the success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2], but it’s an incredibly good game,” says proud composer Jan Valta, via Zoom a few days after conducting the orchestral concert. “It’s a world you get rooted in, which is perhaps why our fans are so dedicated.” The sequel has inspired a number of live role-playing experiences and historical tours through the town of Kutná Hora. The game also has its own meme accounts while more gigs are planned for 2026.
Jan Valta at the ‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’ concert. CREDIT: Jan Jirásek (GameDev Area)
Bigger is better
Classically trained musician Valta started on the soundtrack for Kingdom Come: Deliverance in 2014 with his cousin Adam Sporka, dedicating four years to the mammoth score. There wasn’t a lot of medieval music to take inspiration from but the pair worked hard to ensure each track felt as authentic to the time period as possible.
“I knew fans liked that first soundtrack very much so I couldn’t go in a totally different direction because I wanted them to feel instantly at home with the sequel,” says Valta. The composer spent another four years working on the 10 hours of new recordings in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. The only thing that’s carried over from the original is a handful of tracks that can be heard when protagonist Henry, a plucky commoner on a quest for revenge, dreams about his murdered family. “I had to turn over a lot of stones [for the new compositions] but it was all part of giving people a bigger, better adventure.”
‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’. CREDIT: Warhorse Studios
The soundtrack is a deliberate mix of old and new
Creative director Daniel Vávra and Valta both agreed that they wanted the music of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to be inspired by their favourite Hollywood duo: Steven Spielberg and John Williams. Over more than five decades, the pair have defined cinema with epics such as Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and countless other classics.
“I adore everything those gentlemen have done together,” says Valta. He wanted “strong themes and memorable melodies” for his new sequel – and tried not to be “ashamed of emotion.”
Valta also looked to Czech New Wave composers from the 1960s and ‘70s, including the “scary, psychedelic, repetitive” music of Zdeněk Liška and the “powerfully emotional” scores created by Luboš Fišer. Then there was the game itself. He regularly “stole” concept art from the shared KCD2 work-in-progress folder to create open-world music that plays as you’re exploring Bohemia. “A lot of time composing was me staring at a picture for 20 minutes, then grabbing some background information about a historical event or location from Wikipedia,” before he wrote a note. “It was a combination of heart and head. I believe that if you love the game, you create better music… and I love our game very much.”
Jan Valta at the ‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’ concert. CREDIT: Jan Jirásek (GameDev Area)
Humour is everything
During the sprawling, two-hour Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 concert, a carefully curated selection of the game’s soundtrack is brought to life via a 110-piece orchestra and choir while key scenes from the game’s main narrative play out behind the musicians. Henry, Sir Hans Capon Of Pirkstein and a ragtag group of warriors face down foes, mount daring rescue attempts, cheat death multiple times and ultimately, stop a power grab from King Sigismund. It’s as epic as it sounds.
However, the biggest reactions of the night come when the concert embraces the humour of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, be that Valta throwing the audience an exaggerated look of shock as he conducts the soundtrack for a raunchy romance scene or the palpable excitement in the room when the chirpy, fan-favourite theme for the ridiculously-titled “Butt Trumpet” pub is performed by an entire orchestra. “The game tackles these extremely heavy, important and grave situations but it also has this incredible humour. That juxtaposition is Kingdom Come Deliverance,” says Valta, comparing it to classic Vietnam War sitcom M*A*S*H.
The concert is a celebration of the fans
So far, two more Kingdom Come: Deliverance concerts have been announced, with the team working on extending the run even further. “It would be a shame not to,” says Valta. He spent years creating the music but due to the cost of hiring an orchestra, only got to hear each track a couple of times while it was being recorded. “Playing it live with other musicians in front of thousands of people made it so much more magic.”
Talk about a live Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 gig started back in April and Valta stopped working on it September 17, the day of the concert. “You always want one more day of rehearsals,” he grins. From the off, he knew he wanted to make it a “big, fan service” event. “It’s a gift for them, because without their continuous support, [Warhorse] and KDC wouldn’t be here.”
“It’s an extremely powerful thing to have so many fans really backing you throughout the years,” Valta continues. On the night of the concert, he literally had that fanbase behind him as he conducted. “It was just electrifying.”
The post The magnificent medieval music of ‘Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2′ appeared first on NME.
