One of the longest-tenured employees at From Software has departed the company. Musical composer Yuka Kitamura has announced that she has officially left the studio and that she will become a freelance composer. To further this new venture, Kitamura also revealed that she has launched her very own website, which can be seen here. Kitamura’s resume at From Software is fairly extensive, as it includes works on some of the most critically acclaimed Dark Souls games that the studio has developed. This includes Dark Souls III, Bloodborne, and the most recent Game of the Year winner Elden Ring.
In the post, Kitamura notes that she specializes in mostly orchestral, folk, and easygoing style of music. It is currently unknown if Kitamura had any hand in the studio’s upcoming title, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, but with the title getting ready to launch later this month, there’s a high probability that we’ll see her name somewhere in the credits. If not, then her last known contribution to From Software was Elden Ring, which launched last year to critical acclaim.
Kitamura joined From Software back in 2011, the same year that the studio release what many still consider one of the greatest games of all time, Dark Souls. Kitamura’s first project was working as a sound designer for Armored Core: Verdict Day. Her proper title as a musical composer for the studio began on Dark Souls II, which was followed by Dark Souls III, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Kitamura wasn’t the main composer for Elden Ring, but she did score some of the boss fights. Since she’s going to work freelance, there’s always a chance that From Software contracts her to continue her work with their IPs, but either way, she has truly left her mark on the video game industry.