A recent message from the renowned musical composer Nobuo Uematsu, who was helping with the promotion of Fantasian Neo Dimension—the Apple Arcade-exclusive title being re-released for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC—stated, “This is my final project as a composer of game music. I hope you’ll pick it up and play it. Thanks for your support!”
Naturally, this message led much of the internet, including myself, to thank Nobuo Uematsu for everything he has done and to ask him to reconsider. However, that message turned out to be a mistake.
Wait, wait, wait!
Everybody calm down!
There seems to be some misunderstanding, but I'm not retiring from video game music work!I'm going to cut back a bit on my video game music work because I want to have more time to make the music I want to make. It would be difficult for… pic.twitter.com/8asDX9UF90
— 植松伸夫 (Nobuo Uematsu) -con TIKI- (@UematsuNobuo) October 16, 2024
In response to all the messages, Nobuo Uematsu followed up, stating, “Wait, wait, wait! Everybody calm down! There seems to be some misunderstanding, but I’m not retiring from video game music! I’m just going to cut back a bit on my work because I want more time to make the music I truly want to create. While it would be difficult for me to take on an entire game soundtrack due to the time commitment, I still plan to work on projects like composing a theme song. So, we’re waiting for your offers at Nobuo Uematsu con TIKI!”
Wait, wait, wait!
Everybody calm down!
There seems to be some misunderstanding, but I'm not retiring from video game music work!I'm going to cut back a bit on my video game music work because I want to have more time to make the music I want to make. It would be difficult for… pic.twitter.com/8asDX9UF90
— 植松伸夫 (Nobuo Uematsu) -con TIKI- (@UematsuNobuo) October 16, 2024
The good news is that Nobuo Uematsu isn’t leaving video game music altogether. Instead, he’s stepping back to focus on creating his own music. This is something we’ve seen several video game composers do after dedicating so much time to the industry. While Uematsu is best known for his work on the Final Fantasy series, he has also composed music for other games, including Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and The Last Story, just to name a few.
It’s definitely a relief that he’s not leaving, and I look forward to hearing whatever masterpieces he creates next. Ironically, this isn’t the first time he’s taken a break from composing video game music. He did so back in 2018, citing the need for downtime due to his hectic schedule. Perhaps this is just more of the same. Besides, considering how long Uematsu has been involved in video game music, dating back to 1985, I doubt he could ever truly stop.
Also, if you didn’t already know, Nobuo Uematsu is part of a Japanese band called The Black Mages and has released several albums. If you haven’t heard of them before, now is the perfect time to get acquainted—they’ve released some amazing tracks.
