Composer News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

When Homeworld 3 was first announced, I kept hoping for a VR mode announcement that never came. Wouldn’t it be great to see all of the iconic ships flying around, dogfighting and exploding all around your head? It’s a no-brainer! It turns out that the lack of VR support wasn’t because Homeworld 3’s developers at Blackbird didn’t see the potential; it was because there was another studio, FarBridge, working on a parallel Homeworld game that’s built for VR – specifically the Meta Quest 2 and 3 – from the ground up. It’s called Homeworld: Vast Reaches (see what they did there?) and, as coincidence would have it, after Homeworld 3’s delay to this coming May, both will launch very close together.

Samsung has expanded its Galaxy F15 smartphone lineup in India by introducing a new variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. This latest addition joins the existing 4GB and 6GB RAM versions already available in the market.

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor was one of our favourite games of last year (here's our five-star review to prove it), so we couldn't resist the opportunity to ask a few questions to its composers at the BAFTA Games Awards.

Taylor Stewart and Andy Grush have been scoring movies together as the Newton Brothers for 15 years. They’ve worked with contemporary greats like Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman, they composed the scores for Five Nights at Freddy’s and The Fall of the House of Usher, and they just spent who knows how long marinating in the music of X-Men: The Animated Series in order to craft the music for its sequel, X-Men ’97.

Square Enix recently published a 42 minute Final Fantasy VII Rebirth “Special Talk Session” on its Square Enix Music YouTube channel. The video features series composer Nobuo Uematsu, writer Kazushige Nojima, and creative director Tetsuya Nomura.

Monument Valley, the popular adventure puzzle developed and published by ustwo games, has kicked off its 10-year anniversary celebrations. Ten years, can you believe it? Since the milestone is so significant, the celebration ought to be just as extensive, right? It’s not a one-week or one-month fête, it’s a one-year-long celebration!

Legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu will compose the central theme for the as-yet-unnamed third game in Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, tentatively committing to the job after being put on the spot by Rebirth director Tetsuya Nomura.

Square Enix has officially begun development on the third and final part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy.

The director of Final Fantasy 7 Remake says Part 3 is "off to the races already," but that he's ready to be "done" with this "absolute marathon of projects."

If you've ever caught yourself jamming out to a Latin-filled song in a Final Fantasy game, or any other game in which Nobuo Uematsu was credited as a composer, you might've been wondering just what the heck the singers are saying so elegantly, yet powerfully.

Koji Kondo joined Nintendo in 1984 and ended up composing basically every memorable theme from the Mario or Zelda series. The legendary composer had a particularly wild idea for a stage effect in last year's Super Mario Bros Wonder, and while that idea was rejected, it did end up giving Kondo the opportunity to bring his voice to the game.

One of the most iconic parts of Stardew Valley is the absolutely stellar soundtrack, composed by developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone himself. It’s so well known that there’s currently a live concert tour going on, with many performances selling out in mere minutes. If you’re a Stardew Valley fan, chances are you have a favorite track.

WhatsApp has recently introduced multiple features to the app to provide users with more ease. Now, it is planning to bring out more of them such as group events, default media upload quality settings, and much more. So far, many changes have been introduced on the app, with the biggest noticeable change being the shift of status and call tab and enabling users to pin three messages in a chat. From group events to better media upload quality, know what's in the works.

Famed Kingdom Hearts composer Yôko Shimomura revealed that she is "knee-deep" in work right now, composing the fourth game's soundtrack.

A new AAA studio has launched, composed of industry veterans from EA, Sony, Blizzard, Disney, Apple, and Google.

We’ll say this up front for those of you still exploring Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s vast world: there are no late-game story spoilers here. As seen in its pre-release debut via a new trailer late last year, the action RPG’s theme song “No Promises to Keep” is performed in-game by Aerith. Behind the scenes though, the track was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the legendary composer behind the iconic soundtracks for much of the Final Fantasy series, including Final Fantasy VII Remake. The song’s vocals were performed by American singer Loren Allred, who brought her spellbinding singing voice to the track, augmenting the beautiful—yet tragic—world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the epic story told within it.

Legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu has revealed he struggled with composing Sephiroth's now-iconic theme tune, One Winged Angel.

Zanarkand is, arguably, one of the most haunting pieces of music ever composed for a Final Fantasy game. However, in a recent interview with Japanese outlet Weekly Ochiai, accomplished Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu revealed that the legendary theme from Final Fantasy 10 had an unlikely origin. 

Legendary video game music composer Nobuo Uematsu says he doesn’t think some modern video game soundtracks are as interesting as those in older games.

Garena Free Fire MAX Redeem Codes for March 9: Want to get your hands on exciting in-game items? Take on a thrilling adventure in Garena Free Fire MAX with the launch of the brand-new event, titled "Fighter Ring." This event introduces exclusive rewards like the Bear Incarnate and Bull Incarnate bundles and coveted items such as motorcycles and Ring Tokens. Players can exchange these items in the in-game store to acquire premium rewards, enhancing their gaming experience.

Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) has now introduced Articles as a way for users to share long-form content. This announcement comes amidst rumours that the microblogging platform could face a raft of new technology rules placed by the European Union as part of the Digital Markets Act. Nonetheless, X has been bringing about a myriad of changes since its takeover by the Tesla CEO, the latest of which is the Articles feature. Know all about it.

Threads, the social media app akin to Twitter, is stepping up its game by introducing two highly anticipated features - the ability to save drafts and snap photos directly within the app. This update, announced by Instagram head Adam Mosseri, aims to enhance user experience and streamline the process of sharing thoughts and moments seamlessly.

If you have spent hours playing through Helldivers 2, then there’s a good chance you have the stunning soundtrack on repeat in your head. You are in the right place to learn more about it.

Former Bungie employee and composer for the Halo franchise, Marty O'Donnell, has announced his intention to run for congress in the United States. O'Donnell is best known for his work composing the Halo soundtracks and the original Destiny alongside Michael Salvatori, which came to a swift end following his termination in April 2014.

Legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu says he probably won't compose the score for another complete game; instead, he prefers to spend his time on compositions or his band Uematsu Nobuo conTIKI. Amongst his long list of notable achievements, in addition to being the primary composer of the Final Fantasy series, he single-handedly composed the soundtracks of the first nine games.

Another big Avengers story, another new team for Earth's Mightiest Heroes to take on. After launching his new Avengers volume by introducing the Ashen Combine, writer Jed MacKay has now teamed up with artist Pepe Larraz to create the Bloodcoven, the villainous group at the heart of the upcoming Avengers/Doctor Strange/Moon Knight and more crossover Blood Hunt.

Ask someone to name the most iconic video game music of all time, and they’ll probably say it’s the Halo theme. It’s instantly recognisable, strangely beautiful, and 100% nostalgic. However, the mastermind behind the tune no longer works for Bungie, so what’s going on there?

Halo co-composer Marty O’Donnell has decided to run for a seat in the US Congress.

Former Bungie composer Marty O'Donnell has announced his intention to run as the Republican Party candidate in Nevada’s third congressional district in the 2024 House of Representatives elections.

Alan Wake 2 is a wild ride in nearly every sense of the word, and to match the game's oddball energy, composer Petri Alanko used some, err, unconventional 'toys' to bring the nightmarish soundtrack to life. 

It’s fair to say there haven’t been too many Broadway performances with a raucous applause break for the mention of a forthcoming video game patch. And yet, The Town Hall, a 103-year-old music venue in midtown Manhattan, erupted last night at composer Eric Barone’s mention of “the 1.6 update.”

The developer of Stardew Valley has a hack for composers who want to get people to listen to their music; all you have to do is make an entire game from scratch. 

Composer Nobuo Uematsu is an integral part of Final Fantasy's identity. Even if you don't know his name, you've certainly heard his work, as he was the sole composer on the series for over a decade. Even after other composers were brought on to provide scores for new instalments, Uematsu kept working on the series and even composed the main theme for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

The Tarisland team has a new behind the scenes video featuring award-winning composer, Russell Brower, who was announced as part of the project last fall, detailing the process of composing for Tarisland, how tailoring the music to the story matters, and creating a cohesive musical identity for the game.

A Pokemon fan has created impressive fusions between Houndoom and Electrode, Gastly and Ditto, and Salamence and Xatu. The Pokemon franchise is famous for its designs, which range from simple ones like Trubbish and Meowth to more complex ones like Zygarde and Eternatus. But the community is always creating even more Pokemon, and a favorite way for fans to do this is by fusing creatures.

n a vibrant display of cosmic artistry, the NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a captivating image of the star-forming region IRAS 16562-3959 within the Milky Way Galaxy. Situated approximately 5,900 light-years away in the Scorpius constellation, this celestial panorama reveals a dynamic tapestry of colours and activities.

Baldur's Gate 3 has once again won the biggest prize, Game of the Year, at the 27th annual DICE Awards. The winners were announced during yesterday's ceremony held at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS).

Gmail has continued its testing phase for the chat-style redesign of the email reply user interface (UI), extending it for three months. This week, the rollout is expanding to more users, although it has not achieved widespread availability yet. Despite potential resistance from power users due to an additional step to access "Reply all" and "Forward," Google appears committed to implementing this revamp and that means it will soon be appearing on your Gmail account too - sooner or later.

Despite the release of the series of expansions, ’s best deck continues to be one composed primarily of old cards from previous expansion packs. Since early 2023, the trading card game initiated a new series to reflect the current moment in the Generation 9 games. The new expansions of the series added creatures from Paldea and brought back older gameplay mechanics, such as Pokémon ex. The cards, for instance, highlight creatures from the Gen 9 region, as well as Shiny versions of several monsters, including Charizard and Palafin.

Kingdom Hearts and Street Fighter 2 composer Yoko Shimomura will receive a Lifetime Achievement trophy during the D.I.C.E Awards this year. It will occur on February 15 at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

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The soundtrack for Super Metroid on the SNES is one of the greats in gaming music, but you didn’t need me to tell you that. Composed by Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano, Super Metroid’s score is at times eerie or triumphant, and it’s full of memorable tracks to accompany Samus on a journey to defeat Ridley and other bosses who stand in her way of saving the galaxy. It’s good.

The Dungeon Keeper franchise can feel like a relic from a bygone era. While titles like War for the Overworld and Evil Genius 2 have carried its spirit of evil middle management into the modern era, developer Realmforge Studios has combined aspects of the underworld management sim and blended them with real-time strategy elements for the fourth entry in its Dungeons franchise, which came out in November 2023 and is now on Xbox Game Pass.

Koji Kondo, the Nintendo composer and sound director best known for his work on The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. series, will be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’ (AIAS) Hall of Fame during the 27th D.I.C.E. Awards.

Koji Kondo, longtime composer for The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. franchises, will be inducted into the Academy of Interactvie Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame at this year's D.I.C.E. Awards. The presentation will take place at the 27th annual D.I.C.E. Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the ceremony on Thursday, February 15, at 8 p.m. PT/11 p.m. ET. 

YouTube musican Husky by the Geek is releasing a 170-person cover of beloved Final Fantasy 7 boss theme One Winged Angel in preparation for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's release on February 29. 

The Las Vegas Open is always a good source of reveals, and this year it's wheeled out an all-new Warhammer 40K Kroot army – and judging by social media, the fans are very on board.

Did you know that not all asteroids have the same composition? According to NASA, the three primary classifications of asteroids are C-type, S-type, and M-type. C-type asteroids, which are composed primarily of carbon-rich substances, are the most frequent. S-type asteroids, which are made up mainly of silicate minerals, are less common. M-type asteroids, which are primarily composed of metal, are the least prevalent. One asteroid, whose composition is still unknown, is set to pass Earth today, January 18. Know all about this close encounter.

Rebel Wolves, a team of developers composed of CD Project Red veterans, has revealed some tantalizing details about its ongoing project. 

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is due to release in just a few days on January 15, but after briefly jumping through the Metroidvania's new demo, some hopefuls are already convinced that it's the refresh the series needed.

It’s the new year, and there’s a bevy of new games on the way. One of them, Unicorn Overlord, sees Vanillaware tackling fantasy tactics. And the little slice of music that’s been shared, in 16-bit form, certainly sets the tone.

The Last of Us 2 Remastered will let you play as its very own composer in its dedicated guitar mode.

Following a series of closed beta tests, the Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat release kicked off globally on January 10, 2024. Now offering a streamlined yet authentic Devil May Cry experience on the mobile platform.

It looks like we will be seeing Henry Cavill back on our screens very soon as the release date for The Witcher actor’s upcoming movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has been revealed, and it's just around the corner. 

PC Gamer contributor Noah Smith declared near the end of 2023 that it was another great year for boomer shooters, but he had one request: Can we call them something else now? The answer appears to be a firm no, as «boomer shooter» has now officially taken its place as a tagged genre on Steam.

Yuzo Koshiro and Ancient Corp have stated via Twitter that their modern Genesis/Mega Drive game, Earthion is aiming for release this summer at the earliest. The composer has also announced that plans to bring it to modern consoles are underway.

2023 was another stellar year for anime fans and, if the winter anime season (which runs from January through March) is any indication, 2024 is shaping up to be just as exciting. We’ve got a ton of highly anticipated premieres and new series debuts to kick off the new year, so let’s dive in and see what’s in store.

The end of the year always results in a downright deluge of list articles. But they can be an absolute blast to both write and read, and they always generate discussion. As such, this is a jumping-off point to discuss the best and brightest PlayStation music we heard in 2023. While it's impossible to touch upon every soundtrack worthy of mention, we've compiled what we think are the best of an already bright bunch. With such an incredible umbrella of sounds and moods to explore, let's get listening! Erm, listing.

2023 was a banner year for anime. From beloved continuing series like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Jujutsu Kaisen to long-awaited passion projects like Pluto and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, there was pretty much something for every type of anime fan. While we’ve already published our picks for the best anime of the year and where to watch them, we also wanted to highlight one of the important yet overlooked elements of any great anime: the opening title sequence.

After OpenAI launched its ChatGPT app on Android and iOS, Microsoft has followed suit. Just days after launching the Android app, Microsoft Copilot, the company's AI chatbot integrated with the Bing search engine, is now available for iPhones too. The app has also been optimized for iPads and is available for iPadOS. The app, unlike its web avatar, is a standalone AI chatbot that can answer questions in both text as well as image formats. The app is free to use.

Microsoft is increasingly investing in artificial intelligence (AI) and is introducing various tools for its users. After launching the generative AI chatbot Bing, Microsoft introduced Copilot AI which is a huge umbrella for all AI tools. Earlier, the Copilot AI was only available for PCs, however, now a dedicated Microsoft Copilot app for Android is out and it does not require users to sign in through their Microsoft account. As of now, the Microsoft Copilot app is available for free to download from the Play Store. Know how the Microsoft Copilot app will function on Android devices.

According to official lore, there are several Pokémon that were once human in the franchise. This extends from older Generation 1 creatures all the way to more recent additions to the series. Players who read the games’ texts thoroughly already know that there are several terrifying Pokédex entries in , as well as some very odd ones. By reading these small descriptions of certain species throughout the franchise’s many years, it is possible to discover that, for instance, the beautiful Gorebyss is actually a cruel creature that drains the body fluids from its prey’s body until nothing but a husk is left.

OpenAI is in early discussions to raise a fresh round of funding at a valuation at or above $100 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said, a deal that would cement the ChatGPT maker as one of the world's most valuable startups.

Last week, reports began to emerge that Insomniac Games had been the victim of a ransomware attack that had seen details of an upcoming Wolverine game (as well as personal information of several developers) revealed to the public. 

If you've played through Alan Wake 2, you know the scene. It's a ridiculously amusing, unforgettable surprise from way, way left field during an otherwise generally bleak game, and I wouldn't have it any other way. For the unfamiliar, turn back and play Alan Wake 2 (it's worth it) before reading this article, as we will be getting into spoiler territory from here on out.

Alan Wake 2's captured the imagination of the gaming public for a lot of reasons—it's downright gorgeous, but it also has Remedy's penchant for blending genres, deftly mixing comedy and horror. This habit hits a high-point with Herald of Darkness, an in-game track so popular it was performed live at The Game Awards this year. Spoilers for Alan Wake 2 and Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn follow.

In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the final boss is placed enticingly within your reach from very early on. You can fight him basically as soon as you finish the tutorial regions. But whenever you, as the intrepid swordsman Link, approach this hallowed fight, the game subtly warns you of what awaits without forcing you away. Instead of blockading the fight behind plot points or explicitly using a text pop-up saying that a point of no return approaches like in other games, Tears of the Kingdom relies on a myriad of subtle signals to let you know when you are approaching the end. Primary among these is the game’s sound design. As you approach the final platform and the game gives you the option to dive, the creepy choral music that pervades the Depths crescendos, as if to ask: Are you actually ready?

Microsoft Copilot, the AI-powered chatbot, running on OpenAI's GPT infrastructure, now has another cool feature for the users. The tech giant has partnered with Suno, an AI music-creation platform, to allow Copilot the capability to compose AI songs with simple text prompts. This new extension adds multimodality to the AI chatbot, and now it can add music to its list of outputs. Users will now be able to go to Microsoft Edge to create personalized songs and tweak them according to their preferences. Let us take a closer look.

Finally hitting Netflix this week, the road to Maestro has indeed been a long one. The biographical drama which tells the story of the great composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein was originally meant to be helmed by Martin Scorsese. However, choosing instead to focus on his gangster epic The Irishman, Scorsese stepped down and the project soon landed in the hands of none other than Steven Spielberg. Given that at the time he was working on his version of West Side Story, which features music by Bernstein, it just "made sense" as Spielberg’s producing partner Kristie Macosko Krieger tells GamesRadar+.

Sea of Stars took home the award for Best Independent Game at The Game Awards 2023 earlier this month and now, developer Sabotage Studio has revealed the RPG has surpassed 4 million players since launch. Sea of Stars is available on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC, launching back in August, and is free to subscribers on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, as well as PlayStation Plus' Extra and Premium subscribers. 

Continuing a big year for Christmas-themed games in 2023 is Roblox; the game platform is getting a new experience based on Jon Favreau’s holiday comedy Elf, developers announced Wednesday. While you may not be able to step into Buddy the Elf’s poulaines to reconnect with your long-lost father in Roblox’s Elf North Pole Workshop experience, you will be able to visit Santa’s Workshop and hang with some North Pole pals.

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It might not be entirely sensible to refer to Kind Words—full name Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to)— as a «game,» but we argued about that distinction enough in the 2010s that I think we can sideline it for the remainder of this decade. I only mention it as context for what Kind Words is: a cozy bedroom environment equipped with the chill beats promised by the title, and an indiscriminate virtual post office that delivers anonymous notes and letters to random strangers, message-in-a-bottle style.

Atlus has unveiled new details on Metaphor: ReFantazio, including amazing transitions from free-roam to turn-based combat, and how the RPG's social system works.

In an unexpected turn of events, the eagerly awaited Monday night launch of the U.S. military's covert X-37B robot spaceplane has been postponed for a minimum of 24 hours, according to SpaceX.

The original DOOM is 30 years old now. That means it has been a little over thirty years since Nintendo turned down Id’s offer to port their games to the PC and began a chain reaction that would result in Carmack, Romero, and co. creating the FPS genre. Thanks, Nintendo!

The recently revealed Visions of Mana is bringing back series creator Koichi Ishii as well as veteran composers Hiroki Kikuta, Tsuyoshi Sekito, and Ryo Yamazaki.