Final Fantasy legend Nobuo Uematsu says video game music is getting more boring, and Baldur's Gate 3 publishing lead agrees: "Nothing is made for anyone in particular anymore. (Except shareholders)"

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"Frankly speaking, there's less 'weird things,'" says Uematsu

Final Fantasy 7 screenshot of Sephiroth with flames in the background
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Former Square Enix composer Nobuo Uematsu, the self-taught musician who's created some of the most iconic video game music ever made, sees some developers forming a dangerous habit. Their music is getting boring.

"Frankly speaking, there's less 'weird things' now," the Final Fantasy composer says in a recent interview with Japanese entertainment site Real Sound, translated by Automaton. Seeing the news reported by our friends at PC Gamer, Baldur's Gate 3 publishing lead Michael "Cromwelp" Douse agrees in a post on Twitter.

But Uematsu maintains that things don't have to be so… beige. Take Elton John as an example, he says: "Despite having to be mindful of commercial success, [John] still continued making good music even after releasing his masterpieces in the 70s. In that sense, I think there's still many things we can do."

He worries that overbearing bosses make game composers feel like they "aren't in a position to speak their opinion freely, and no matter how much musical knowledge or technical skills they possess, they're still in a position where it’s difficult to speak their mind." Thus, original ideas fade. They're replaced with songs you've already heard.

Ashley Bardhan
Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.

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