Composer Shota Kageyama has left Game Freak after composing several Pokemon games to go independent.
There comes a time when every adventurer gets a Pokemon and steps into the first patch of tall grass for an independent adventure. Shota Kageyama, composer and arranger for Pokemon X and Y as well as other recent games in the series, announced that he left Game Freak on New Year’s Eve to form a new music brand.
Kageyama tweeted, “[Greetings] Happy New Year, everyone. I’m sorry to raise a personal matter, but I left GAME FREAK, who has been good to me these past six years and seven months, on December 31 to start a new music brand called Spica Musica.”
This doesn’t mean Kageyama is leaving games, though. He plans to stay in the field doing work independently. His Game Freak colleagues sent him off with smiles and support for his future projects. He calls his departure a “graduation” after six and a half years of work at Game Freak. He added that his departure from Game Freak was not a farewell to the company as he hopes to create something together again.
Kageyama has composed the music in Pokemon X and Y, Black and White, Black 2 and White 2, and HeartGold and SoulSilver, as well as scoring Pokemon: The Origin. Outside of Pokemon, Kageyama has also worked on the soundtracks to Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Capcom’s Luminous Arc.
Source: Anime News Network