FromSoftware games are mostly known for a few things—high difficulty, stellar combat systems, big boss encounters, and not least of all, epic soundtracks. One person has been ever present in From’s soundtracks since 2013, but now they’re leaving.
Yuka Kitamura announced on Twitter that she is departing FromSoftware after more than a decade at the company, during which she composed half a dozen video game soundtracks. The composer plans to keep working in the industry as a freelancer.
Kitamura joined FromSoftware in 2012 and has worked as a composer for every major release by the company since then. She made her debut in Armored Core: Verdict Day, which came out in 2013, and first composed for the Souls genre FromSoftware is widely recognized for in Dark Souls 2.
Since then, Kitamura has been a composer for all FromSoftware games, including Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Elden Ring. All four games became a critical and commercial hit. Elden Ring in particular shattered all sales records for a FromSoftware release and won countless year-end awards in 2022.
Given the company’s growing success and reputation, Kitamura’s departure comes completely out of the blue, especially with what we know is coming from the Japanese developer. Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is scheduled to launch on Aug. 25. We’re also waiting for the first official Elden Ring DLC, which FromSoftware revealed is already in development.
Despite Armored Core 6 launching just a few weeks from now, it doesn’t look like Kitamura has anything to do with its soundtrack. Alongside her announcement of becoming a freelancer beginning Aug. 1, she also shared a link to her new personal website. There’s a “Works” tab there that includes all of Kitamura’s soundtrack involvements and there’s no mention of Fires of Rubicon or any other work the composer has done in 2023.
Kitamura’s first ever contribution to a FromSoftware soundtrack was for an Armored Core title, so it would have been fitting for her to compose for the much more hyped Fires of Rubicon. For whatever reason, that’s apparently not going to be the case, and it doesn’t look like her music will be included in any Elden Ring DLC either. Nevertheless, we wish Yuka Kitamura nothing but success as a freelance composer and hope we’ll see her majestic tunes in another game sooner rather than later.
