SEMO has exclusively confirmed that both Masashi Hamauzu (FFXIII, Dirge of Cerberus, Unlimited SaGa) and Junya Nakano (FFIV: The After Years, FFX, Threads of Fate) have left Square Enix.

Masashi Hamauzu Article
Junya Nakano Article

Their next destinations are unknown. More departures are expected to follow.

Ouch. But it's not like that means they can't score anymore music for S-E though, right?

If anything, becoming independent might end up being a Godsend.

Astonishing. Is there anyone left at Square Enix worth listening to?

don't worry,,  we all know that celebrities will end up back together no matter how hard they get beaten up...

I guess the pressure of working exclusively under that massive corporation of profiteering kills the artistry. Yikes.

Nice confirmation, SEMO!

I could care less about Nakano but it would be extremely disappointing (after FFXIII's orchestral beauty) to hear Hamauzu saddled with synth again.

Tanioka, Sekito, Ishimoto and Iwasaki. Unlike Hamauzu, some of them don't peak yet, or rather, they career start to shine.

Working for Square-Enix isn't the badge it was back in the (Squaresoft) day(s) anyway.

I think most composers don't want to work for publishers anymore because they can make a lot more money opening their own studios and working on a contract basis (often allowing them to retain copyrights to their work).  From our perspective, it makes its harder to keep track of what's good since we now have that many more indepedent music shops to keep track of instead of just saying that "everyone who works for Square makes good music" like we did back in the 90s.  Oh well.

I didn't cry when I was 10 and my dog was put to sleep.  I also didn't cry when my grandfather died, but I'm feeling something welling up right now.  Hopefully they both continue to compose for other games (why wouldn't they?).

Interesting to know but I would guess this is more about composers wanting to work on a per-title or contract basis and be able to negotiate their own projects than it is about wanting to leave a certain publisher (though that could have something to do with it).  Basically to a system closer to what the film industry has in place.  Ideally it'll mean projects get matched to the most suitable composers and perhaps open the door for new talent as well.

Yup! I feel happy on Masashi's behalf. Now he can use his talents for something different than SE games. Perhaps score a ballet or something. And come back and score another cheaposcore for the old firm whenever he needs money. I would have considered this good news, if it weren't for the fact that I'm totally indifferent to which company a composer works for. As long as he creates good music, I'm happy.

And I totally agree with the part about getting the most suitable composer. Or, I would have agreed if it worked that way, which it don't, because everyone seems to want SuperSweep or BasisScape anyway!

I wonder what you mean by 'everyone'.

You've more or less nailed it. Indeed, it works both ways. It seems that Japanese game companies are also preferring this approach increasingly, instead of relying on internal composers.

I didn't realize that FFIV: The After had new music (I didn't play it, but I thought it heard it was all reused).

Is there a rip floating around anywhere?

It's not MUCH new music, but it's something. I wish they'd release a mini-soundtrack or at least a digital EP for it.

The only new track I heard before I quit watching videos on YouTube was that villain chick's theme. It didn't really go with the rest of the music Nobuo did.

Additionally did anyone else find it lame how Kain's class became Holy Dragoon after fighting his fake self? Why not call him a Lancer? Dragoon could be the dark class and Lancer could be the light class.

Kago (he doesn't frequent this forum) reports that Tanioka revealed her departure on Yesterday's FFXI fan event. Hope this will work better for her career.

Oh shit!

Thanks for the news!