Rob Kovacs aka 88bit

A Little About Rob

Rob Kovacs is an award-winning composer, pianist, recording artist, music streamer and college professor. He has gained notoriety for his virtuosic note-for-note piano arrangements of classic video game soundtracks mainly from the original Nintendo Entertainment System under the name 88bit. Additionally, Kovacs has composed music for several award-winning short films, rock bands and most recently the critically acclaimed virtual reality game STRAYLIGHT - a revolutionary VR platforming experience.

Kovacs released his first solo record, Let Go, in 2021- an introspective indie-rock record chronicling an intense and poignant romance - and was featured in publications including AmericanSongwriter.com and Glide Magazine. Piano-driven with a cinematic arc, the music pairs with artful yet honest lyricism and delicate vocals that is both captivating for the casual listener and carries a depth for musicians and writers to sink into.

In 2022 under the 88bit moniker, Kovacs collaborated with lo-fi producer, Save Point, to release Video Game LoFi: Super Mario 64 - a collaborative album featuring lo-fi, jazz-adjacent arrangements of music from Super Mario 64. The track “Dire Dire Docks” was recently awarded the Annual G.A.N.G. Awards “Best Video Game Music Cover”. He has since released the STRAYLIGHT: Original Game Soundtrack with Emperia Records as well as performed at cons such as TwitchCon 2022, PAX West, GDC Online, The Game Audio Network Guild Awards, MAGFest, the Mensa National Gathering, NeoSonic Fest, Classic Game Fest and many others.

Not limiting himself to only 8-bit era music, Kovacs also performed with the Distant Worlds Final Fantasy orchestra and contemporary classical music group No Exit. He is internationally recognized as the first person to perform a solo version of Steve Reich’s Piano Phase by playing both piano parts on two pianos simultaneously.