[kupoartist]

Square-Enix's long term music guru, Nobuo Uematsu, has announced that he is leaving to pursure his own goals, bringing an end to a 20-odd year relationship with the company. Uematsu is said to be headed to a new company named "Smile Please". There, he will still pen music for video games (though presumeably not FF, unless some kind of contract is made), but he will be taking more time in Live-Performance work, largely with his Rock Band "The Black Mages".

His activity at the developer has been somewhat lesser than it once was, with recent FF titles containing only a few tracks of his work - Final Fantasy XI had only a few, Final Fantasy X-2 wasn't anything to do with him. Many have said that he is past his best (I would personally agree, reckoning that he was at his peak in the Mid/Late ninetees for FF6 to 8. FF10's soundtrack was pretty horrid in places, though it had its moments). His one track contribution to Final Fantasy XII, may well turn out to be his swansong.

Source: www.rpgamer.com