Summary
- After 12 years at FromSoftware, lead composer Yuka Kitamura has announced her departure from the company and will now work as a freelance composer.
- Kitamura was responsible for authoring some of FromSoftware's best RPG soundtracks, including those for Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
- Despite leaving FromSoftware, Kitamura may still continue to compose original soundtracks for the company's future titles, as she expressed her desire to continue expressing herself in game music.
FromSoftware Lead Composer Yuka Kitamura has left the famous Japanese developer following a lengthy stint at the company. Kitamura worked at FromSoftware for the past 12 years, with the studio's first game to feature one of her soundtracks being the 2013 Armored Core: Verdict Day.
After co-authoring the OST of the latest Armored Core game with Kota Hoshino, Kitamura teamed up with Dark Souls composer Motoi Sakuraba on the soundtrack for Dark Souls 2. She served later served as the lead composer on Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. The Dark Souls composer later returned to create the Elden Ring OST together with Tsukasa Saitoh, Shoi Miyazawa, Tai Tomisawa, and Yoshimi Kudo.
That lengthy spell at FromSoftware has now come to an end, as revealed by Kitamura herself. The 33-year-old took to Twitter on August 1 to announce her departure from the Tokyo-based developer, adding that she has decided to start working as a freelance composer moving forward. Her departure could potentially be a big loss for the studio, as Kitamura was largely or solely responsible for authoring what are widely considered some of the best RPG soundtracks in recent memory.
While she wasn't the lead composer on FromSoftware's most recently released game, Kitamura still authored some of Elden Ring's best boss music, including Malenia, Blade of Miquella. Kitamura's FromSoftware departure doesn't rule out the possibility of her continuing to compose original soundtracks for the studio's future titles, not least because she has outright stated that she's looking to continue her gaming industry streak. "I would like to continue to express myself in game music," the artist wrote on Twitter.
Kitamura's most recent contributions to FromSoftware games are likely yet to be heard. Namely, the artist has long been a member of FreQuency, the studio's internal band making music for the Armored Core series. Kitamura was the sole violinist of the group, which also includes some other FromSoftware veterans such as Kota Hoshino, Tsukasa Saitoh, and Kohichi Suenaga.
While the Japanese company has yet to confirm that, it's plausible that FreQuency has once again been in charge of putting together a score for Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon. The game's full track list will be revealed no later than August 25, when the next installment in the long-running vehicular combat series is scheduled to hit the market. The timing of Kitamura's departure from the company also seems to suggest that she was involved in the creation of the game's OST until the end of development. The Collector's Edition of Armored Core 6 will ship with a digital soundtrack, FromSoftware confirmed back in May.