Summary
Every year,BAFTArecognizes the best games of the past 12 months via its Games Awards. The 2025 ceremony will take place on April 8, and we already know who the recipient of one of the awards will be—Yoko Shimomura, who will be honored with BAFTA’s Fellowship for her contributions to the video game industry.
BAFTA revealed today that the legendary composer will receive its Fellowship during this year’s BAFTA Game Awards this morning. Even if you don’t recognize Shimomura’s name, you will have almost certainly heard her music. Shimomura has been composing music for video games for more than three decades, starting her career atCapcomin 1988 and creating music for games such asFinal Fight, Street Fighter 2, andMarvel’s beat ‘em up Punisher game.
However, it’s her work atSquare Enix, both as a studio member and a freelancer, for which Shimomura is best known. The composrer’s first project at Square wasLive A Live, but the biggest ongoing project of her career may well beKingdom Hearts. Shimomura has composed the soundtracks for every single Kingdom Hearts game, including the upcomingKingdom Hearts 4. She is also behind the soundtrack forFinal Fantasy 15.
Yoko Shimomura Will Be Honored For Her Contributions To Video Games At BAFTA’s Game Awards
One Of The Best And Most Prolific Composers In Video Game History
Clearly regarded as one of the best curators of RPG music in the industry, Shimomura even has someNintendocredits to her name. After her work at Square resulted in Shimomura’s music being used inSuper Mario RPG, Nintendo utilized her services for all of its Mario & Luigi games other than 2024’sBrothership. Shimomura also composed music forMario + Rabbids Sparks of Hopealongside fellow legendary video game music composer Grant Kirkhope.
“I am absolutely delighted to receive such an amazing and prestigious award as this,” Shimomura said on learning that she will be receiving the BAFTA Fellowship. “I am who I am today thanks to all the people who have supported me, allowing me to continue being involved with the music that I love and discovering the medium of games where that music can flourish.”
Shimomura will join some of the biggest names across video games and movies when she is awarded BAFTA’s Fellowship next month. Others in the video game industry who have received the award include Hideo Kojima, Shuhei Yoshida, and Shigeru Miyamo, while Judi Dench, Martin Scorsese, and Helen Mirren have received the same award for their contributions to acting.
You’ll be able to watch live as Shimomura is honored at this year’s BAFTA Game Awards as the ceremony will be streamed live on Tuesday, April 8 from the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London viaBAFTA’s YouTubeandTwitch channels.
