Use in Video Games

Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor's music has been used in video games, ranging from the first person shooter Quake to music games Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

Super Mario Land

Reznors are enemy mid-bosses that debuted in 1991's Super Mario Land. Dayv Brooks was an employee of Nintendo of America from 1988-1993, and one of his jobs was giving English names to the Super Mario game characters during the Japanese to English localization process. He named most of the Koopalings after rock musicians, as well as naming Reznors after Trent Reznor. [1]

Reznors later appeared in the real world in the LEGO Super Mario "Reznor Knockdown" expansion set.

The Ultimate DOOM

The NIN logo is present as an easter egg in a secret room in The Ultimate DOOM level "E4M1: Hell Beneath" designed by American McGee [2].

Quake

The Quake Soundtrack was wholly created by Trent Reznor and NIN for use as background and incidental music during gameplay. They also created all the sound effects for the game. The NIN logo is present on the ammo box for the Nailgun.

Doom 3

Through his friendship with John Carmack, Reznor was originally going to be the overall sound producer on Doom 3, providing the main theme and all sound effects and voiceovers. He worked with the game design team for a time, providing material for the E3 2002 alpha demo. However, Reznor later dropped out due to the time commitment, money, and bad management. [3] Reznor talked about his Doom 3 experience in-depth in an Access response.

The final game didn't contain any music or sounds by Reznor. Chris Vrenna did the job instead. A leak of an alpha build of the game contained sounds that Reznor had created, and they can be re-added to the final game by installing a custom "Trent Reznor Sound Pack".

Tony Hawk's Project 8

The soundtrack for Tony Hawk's Project 8 features "Getting Smaller".

Tap Tap Revenge

The iPhone exclusive game Tap Tap Revenge premiered its first ever special edition version of the game with Tap Tap Revenge: Nine Inch Nails, featuring 13 tracks from Ghosts I-IV and The Slip, hand-picked by Reznor. This is also the first game that was co-designed by Reznor, along with long-time art director Rob Sheridan, highlighting a desire that both have pledged for making a full-blown video game.
The tracks used are:

• "1,000,000"**
• "Letting You"**
• "Discipline"**
• "Echoplex"
• "Head Down"**
• "Demon Seed"
• "3 Ghosts I"
• "9 Ghosts I"
• "18 Ghosts II"
• "19 Ghosts III"
• "21 Ghosts III"**
• "26 Ghosts III"
• "31 Ghosts IV"

**These songs also have a specially edited version only playable in the "Extreme" mode in the game

Rock Band

Rock Band features twelve fully playable songs from the NIN catalogue, compatible with all three titles of the main series unless otherwise noted:

• "The Hand That Feeds" - From the original game and exportable to future titles

From the separately purchasable "Nine Inch Nails Pack 1", released February 26, 2008:

• "The Collector"
• "March Of The Pigs"
• "The Perfect Drug"

From the separately purchasable "Nine Inch Nails Pack 2", released July 22, 2008:

• "Burn"
• "Capital G"
• "Last"

From the separately purchasable "Pretty Hate Pack 01", released March 1, 2011 and only compatible with Rock Band 3:

• "Terrible Lie"
• "Head Like A Hole"
• "Sanctified"
• "The Only Time"

Released as a single on November 20, 2012 and only compatible with Rock Band 3:

• "Closer"

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock featured "Wish", fully playable.

An expansion pack was released, featuring

• "Head Like A Hole"
• "The Hand That Feeds"
• "Closer"

Need for Speed: Undercover

The soundtrack for Need for Speed: Undercover features the songs "The Mark Has Been Made" and "The Warning (Stefan Goodchild remix feat. Doudou N'Diaye Rose)".

Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition

The soundtrack for Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition features "The Hand That Feeds".

Midnight Club: Los Angeles

The soundtrack for Midnight Club: Los Angeles features "1,000,000" and "Discipline" (listed under "Hard Rock").

Resistance 2

The videos section of the Alternate Reality Game website "Project Abraham," for the video game "Resistance 2" uses portions of songs from Ghosts I-IV as well as "Corona Radiata". The Project Abraham Alternate Reality Game was created by 42 Entertainment, who also created the Year Zero Experience.

The Darkness II

The Darkness II features "The Mark Has Been Made" in the trailer.

Batman: Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight features "The Wretched" in the trailer. Reznor is also credited as "music consultant" for the trailer.

Crysis 2

Crysis 2 features "Just Like You Imagined" in the trailer.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops II

Call Of Duty: Black Ops II has an instrumental theme song composed by Reznor.

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 features "Head Like A Hole".

Dead Island Riptide

Dead Island Riptide features a sample from "Vessel" in the trailer.

FIFA 14

The soundtrack for FIFA 14 features "Copy Of A".

Hi-Fi Rush

Hi-Fi Rush features "1,000,000" and "The Perfect Drug".

Warframe: 1999

Warframe: 1999 features "Into The Void" in the trailer.

Divinity: Original Sin

Divinity: Original Sin features an implement referred to as Nine Inch Nails. The item's decription reads "A handful of sharp iron nails. Closer examination reveals it would be a sin to waste them."

Fortnite

In 2023, Fortnite released a new game mode called Fortnite Festival, developed by Harmonix. It is a rhythm game similar to Harmonix's Rock Band series. "The Hand That Feeds" and WitchGang's "Nothing's Alright" were included in the launch songs. "Less Than", "March of the Pigs", and WitchGang's "Timeless" and "Runaway" were added with later updates.

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet

In 2024, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were announced to be scoring the upcoming Naughty Dog Game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet at the Game Awards.