Nobuo Uematsu says Fantasian is his ‘final game project as a composer’
Update: The composer claims he is not retiring
Nobuo Uematsu has confirmed that Fantasian Neo Dimension will be his last full project as a video game composer.
Uematsu is most famous for composing the soundtracks for the first nine Final Fantasy games, and working on numerous subsequent entries.
“Fantasian releases on December 5,” he said in a video message released on Tuesday. “This is my final project as a composer of video game music. I hope you’ll pick it up and play it. Thanks for your support!”
Update
Nobuo Uematsu has moved to clarify his comments, and claimed he is not retiring, but stepping back from video games.
He wrote: “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 me to take on the entire soundtrack of a video game because the time commitment for composing would be too long, but I would like to continue to work on jobs such as one theme song.”
Neo Dimension is an enhanced version of 2021’s Fantasian, the Apple Arcade RPG written and produced by Uematsu’s long-time creative partner and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi.
Uematsu said earlier this year that he didn’t think he’d ever be able to compose an entire game’s soundtrack ever again.
In an interview with German publication Zeit Online ahead of a performance of his orchestral show Merregnon: Heart of Ice, Uematsu said: “As far as Final Fantasy is concerned, I’m still involved by writing the main themes for the games. But I don’t think I’ll compose music for a whole game again.
“You would have to give it full throttle for two or three years. And I don’t think I have the physical and mental strength to do it anymore.
“I think I’d rather use the time I have left to work on other projects that I love. Such as compositions like Merregnon or my band Uematsu Nobuo conTIKI.”
Although Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth contain soundtracks created by different composers, Uematsu still composed the main theme for both games – ‘Hollow’ for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and ‘No Promises to Keep’ for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
Earlier this year, Uematsu said he’d be honoured to compose the main theme for the third game in the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy.
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