Masashi Hamauzu (FFX/XIII composer) leaves Square Enix!

[Xephonai]

http://www.squareenixmusic.com/music..._from=&ucat=2&


19 Jan 2010 - FFXIII's Masashi Hamauzu Leaves Square Enix


Square Enix Music Online can exclusively reveal that Final Fantasy XIII composer Masashi Hamauzu has left Square Enix. His departure is the latest in an exodus at the company's sound team, following Kenichiro Fukui and Junya Nakano, and further departures from the remaining four composer team will occur in coming months.

During his 15 years at the company, Hamauzu has worked on titles such as SaGa Frontier II, Unlimited SaGa, Final Fantasy X, Musashi: Samurai Legend, Dirge of Cerberus, and Sigma Harmonics. During this period, he has accumulated considerable critical acclaim for his stylistic versatility and artistic impressionistic style. He has also produced three piano albums and the solo project Vielen Dank.

Hamauzu's latest score Final Fantasy XIII is likely to make him a blockbuster name in the industry and has already been subjected to rave reviews. Its official soundtrack will be released on January 27. Though he completed the music for the Japanese game last year, he has recently been involved in development of the soundtrack for the international version of the game. Hamauzu's future destination remains to be confirmed.

Source: Multiple Industry Sources

[thefenrir]

Oh man, so many composers are leaving...I really don't know what to say o__o

Of course, I don't think this means that Hamauzu won't be doing anymore Final Fantasy scores, he could follow in Nobuo's steps. I'm just wondering what's making them leave...perhaps it's Wada (that's just me being a biased ass xD).

[Emi]

I for one really enjoyed his score for Final Fantasy X. I hope if hes not retiring that he will join another video game company and make music for them. Hopefully if he does join another company the games he composes for are decent.

[Eternity]

Hm..all these composers leaving certainly is interesting. I mean its not like there aren't other composers out there, but its disappointing to see them go.

[Shawn]

I wonder if he'll be like Nobuo and still does some work if SE pays good enough for it.

[Eternity]

Originally Posted by Shawn

I wonder if he'll be like Nobuo and still does some work if SE pays good enough for it.

Probably. Isn't Nobuo doing the score for Final Fantasy XIV? so it should have some pretty great music. I could see the same happening with Masashi.

[camilomf]

I wonder if his leave isn't timed to fall right before the release of the soundtrack in Japan for some reason. Hard to really know....

[Darryl]

It's pretty strange, it makes it seem like there is something going on behind the scenes at the company. Perhaps they're just going to outsource all the time now, but you'd think that would be more expensive.

[Eskimo Keith]

Square Enix probably bought a few Leona Lewis albums to hold them up for the next few games.
Seriously though, it sucks but i'm kinda hoping they look for composers such as Tsuyoshi Sekito (The Last Remnant) and that Nobuo Uematsu stays on for a few years yet.
My favourite RPG songs have consisted of The Last Remnant OST and Lost Odyssey OST so i'm hoping the latest Final Fantasy music will be similar.

[gilburtgtr]

It does seem odd that multiple composers have just 'left'. It makes me wonder what is actually going on at SE, because the composers haven't made much comment to explain themselves, and neither has Square. Hmm... :/