New CS:GO music kits include polka-metal and a disco grenade

(Image credit: Valve/Laura Shigihara)

In 2014, music kits were added to CS:GO. They let players customize the multiplayer shooter's soundtrack, because if you're going to reskin your guns why not reskin the main menu theme while you're at it? And if you win MVP in a match, why not make the other players listen to your MVP anthem?

The latest batch are called the Tacticians Music Kits, six new alternative soundtracks from various videogame composers. Notably, Austin Wintory—the award-winning composer of Journey, Abzû, and The Banner Saga, among others—is responsible for one that's a mash-up of polka and metal. Other contributors include Chipzel (Super Hexagon, Crypt of the Necrodancer), Freaky DNA (Retro City Rampage), Jesse Harlin (Mafia, various Star Wars games), Sarah Schachner (various Assassin's Creed games), and Laura Shigihara (Plants vs. Zombies, To the Moon, Rakuen).

Shigihara went the extra mile and animated a music video for her contribution in the style of an an0nymooose Source Filmmaker video, which is worth a watch if you want to see some serious military men throw a disco grenade and pose like J-pop idols.

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.