BGS 2025: Yoko Shimomura, one of the main names in gaming music

Do you know what Xenoblade Chronicles, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy XV, Parasite Eve, Street Fighter II, the Mana series games and Kingdom Hearts have in common, beyond dedicated and passionate fanbases? Memorable soundtracks that have left their mark in generations of players and helped immortalize the titles, and every single one mentioned here have, one way or another, passed through the hands of one of the biggest names in videogame music: Yoko Shimomura.

Shimomura was present in the BGS25, where she received the Lifetime Achievement Award as an honor due to her history and importance in the world of videogames, on top of meeting fans in Meet&Greets. In this article, we’ll talk about her career, importance in the representation and acknowledgment of female professionals in gaming history and about her incredible passage through Brazil.

Yoko Shimomura started playing the piano when she was 5 years old, falling in love with composition and classical music since she was a kid. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music, specializing in piano, and the same year, 1988, started working for Capcom, where she was a part of ”The Kunami Kokeiha Club”, a team of female composers who signed their work with pseudonyms. In Capcom, she worked in big projects such as Samurai Sword, Final Fight and finally, Street Fighter II, where she was the main composer.

In 1993, she left Capcom and started working for Square Enix (still SquareSoft back then), where she became known fast. Shimomura composed the soundtrack for Final Fight and, of course, marked an entire generation forever with the Kingdom Hearts OST. In 2002, she left Square and started working as a freelancer, and in addition to continuing to be the main composer for the saga, she composed music for many other iconic games such as the Mario & Luigi series, Xenoblade Chronicles, Final Fantasy XV and Super Mario RPG

A perhaps lesser known fact (definitely less known than it should be) is that the foundation of videogame music as an integral part of the player experience was almost entirely built by women, from 8-bit tracks to current days. Women like Shimomura, who love what they do, are incredibly talented and have a passion for telling stories through music. And, sadly, forced to work without any recognition for years, having simply near-anonymous pseudonyms in the credits screen to show for all of the hard work they did, and still do.

Names such as Yoko Shimomura, Harumi Fujita, Kinuyo Yamashita and Tamayo Kawamoto have been acting in the gaming world for a lot longer than they’ve become known to the public. In Shimomura’s case, only in 1993 when she joined Square Enix did she start to sign her compositions with her name. Previously, in Capcom, she signed under the pseudonym ”Pii♪”.

Currently, she’s still very much active, working and a lot! On top of being the main composer for [link]{https://umgamer.com/en-us/articles/kingdom-hearts-iv-everything-we-know-so-far-theories-possibilities}(Kingdom Hearts 4)’s OST, Shimomura is involved with many other projects she can’t yet name, according to herself in a recent interview. And us, fans, keep on awaiting for new works of art composed by this living legend in videogame history.

Shimomura has received, throughout her career, many honors for her work, among which the most notable are the 2024 Game Developers Choice Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2025 BAFTA Fellowship. The BAFTA especially, it’s a recognition award given to huge figures in the audiovisual space, and only in 2007 did gaming professionals and artists start to be considered as recipients for it. Yoko Shimomura stands alongside only 13 people within the gaming world to receive this honor, together with huge names such as Shigeru Miyamoto and [link]{https://umgamer.com/en-us/articles/bgs-2025-hideo-kojima-a-trajetoria-de-uma-lenda-do-design-de-games}(Hideo Kojima), who was also present in the BGS25.

Also, in this Brasil Game Show, Yoko received the Lifetime Achievement Award, also in recognition for all of her influence, work and pioneerism in gaming music.

Shimomura had already marked many Brazilian fans when she came over with the Kingdom Hearts Orchestra and played Dearly Beloved for us in the piano, but this time her visit was a lot bigger and had a lot more repercussion, since she was one of the international guests for the Brasil Game Show 2025.

In addition to receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, she had two Meet&Greets, on friday and saturday, and the sheer volume of people standing in line as soon as the event opened, anxiously holding their physical copies of games and dressed in their Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XV cosplays, thrilled to meet their favorite composer, is a testament to how loved her music is. And, having been one of these people, I can say for sure that the Brazilians’ love has definitely reached her.

Yoko gave out autographs, took pictures, spoke briefly to each fan and made dreams come true. It’s common for us to hear that celebrities from other countries are often surprised with the love Brazilian fans show them, and it wasn’t any different this time. She was thoughtful, caring with each and every person, and the smile showing on her face with every compliment, every fan who walked up to her was simply charming. When told that her music saved my life and means the world to me, she told me that, to her, what means the world and changes her life is hearing such things from fans, and it was impossible to hold back my tears even as I write this.

With all said and done, the Brasil Game Show is still an incredible event for those who, like me, love to meet their gaming idols, creating unforgettable moments which will stay in our memories for many, many years to come.