Shortly after Square Enix announced major losses due to their subsidiary Luminous Productions, another important announcement was made. The studio's head, and director of Square Enix titles such as The Third Birthday, Crisis Core: FFVII, and Final Fantasy XV, Hajime Tabata, stated that he had resigned from both Square Enix and Luminous Productions. He plans to go on to create his own company, and already has a project that he'll be working on in the future. Due to the resignation, three of the four planned Final Fantasy XV DLC side stories will be cancelled. Episodes Aranea, Lunafreya, and Noctis will no longer be in development, while Episode Ardyn is still scheduled for a March 2019 release date.


Tabata was part of Square Enix since his employment there in 2004, where he worked on his first project, Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII. Additionally, the multiplayer standalone DLC Comrades is still on track, and slated for a release on December 12, for $9.99.

To everyone watching the program,
Hello, this is Tabata.
It’s almost going to be 2 whole years since the release of Final Fantasy XV.
I honestly believe the reason we were able to get this far is because of all you loyal fans.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Today, I have a personal announcement to make to all of you.
I, Hajime Tabata, will be resigning from Luminous Productions and the Square Enix group as of October 31st, 2018.
I was able to gain so much experience with my time at Square Enix.
Every title I was able to be a part of means a lot to me. However, Final Fantasy XV stood out from that group as it was a special project for me which I went all-in.
Therefore, I decided to take this opportunity to officially announce my departure from Final Fantasy XV to all the fans who have supported the title across the globe.
In regards to my next endeavors and near future, I have a project that I truly wish to solidify as my next challenge after Final Fantasy XV. For that reason, I have decided to leave my current position and start my own business in order to achieve my goal.
As production of Episode Ardyn continues and Luminous Productions works on new projects, I felt that it was time for me to hand over the torch to the next generation of talented and trustworthy colleagues and believe that they will create something amazing.
From this day on, I will cheer on and support Square Enix and Luminous Productions together with all you fans.
I would like to thank everyone who continues to support Final Fantasy XV and those who have also supported myself personally.
Hajime Tabata

 

[Dubbicakes]

Tshhhhhh, ouch. That really sucks, totes enjoyed FFXV a lot and was all around happy about their recent DLCs. =[

 

[NumberXIIIEdwin]

Wow, this really hits hard. I loved every bit of FFXV and its DLCs, and I was looking forward to the new ones a lot. I always felt that the sheer amount of hate he got was ludicrous, but I digress. Best wishes to him in his new ventures.

 

[Kioku]

.... It's the beginning of the end....

 

[Noctosphere]

wtf guys
tempers usually complains about ''incomplete game with dlc...''
now yall saying youll miss their dlc


personally the only franchise of Square Enix i play is the reboot of Tomb Raider
so i guess it wont affect me, right?

 

[Deleted User]

Gotta question why he left before finishing the DLC though. Perhaps he left because SE decided to cancel and it upset him?

 

[gameboy]

WTF, they still planned more. wasnt there a 'complete' version? didnt nobody buy the movie?

FF15 is a b.s. game, worst Final Fantasy made

 

[KingVamp]

Can't wait to see this new project and company.

.... It's the beginning of the end....

lol So dramatic. OK, they may have lost someone great, but they still have talented people.

wtf guys
tempers usually complains about ''incomplete game with dlc...''
now yall saying youll miss their dlc

Must have been some great dlc. lol

WTF, they still planned more.

Idk either.

 

[Reploid]

#letff15die

 

[Bladexdsl]

good the less FF the better they can start focusing on more better franchises like dragonquest and grandia and maybe even resurrect saga frontier.

 

[gameboy]

good the less FF the better they can start focusing on more better franchises like dragonquest and grandia and maybe even resurrect saga frontier.

grandia was not square or enix

 

[mario5555]

wtf guys
tempers usually complains about ''incomplete game with dlc...''
now yall saying youll miss their dlc

personally the only franchise of Square Enix i play is the reboot of Tomb Raider
so i guess it wont affect me, right?

If it wasn't for him the game wouldn't have been completed, let alone pretty good irregardless of the cluster-**** Nomura left it in when it was still known as Versus XIII.

Honestly this wasn't a game that NEEDED DLC (at least paid DLC), it's a shame it couldn't have been feature complete (story wise) when released. As it was, I enjoyed it, took the time to get a platinum (which I never do) and immersed myself in the game lore. (I think I played it and LoZ: BotW back to back)

FF15 is a b.s. game, worst Final Fantasy made

Seriously....!?!

FF XIII trilogy says "hi" ;-P

 

[Ritsuki]

good the less FF the better they can start focusing on more better franchises like dragonquest and grandia and maybe even resurrect saga frontier.

Isn't Grandia kind of dead already? Grandia II is one of my all time favorite RPGs but to be honest I haven't heard about the franchise for a while.

 

[ssrpgvita]

thank god this game was utter freaking trash.
the development hell it went thru ,it wasnt even final fantasy it was movie if that
square is doing this with each new game .

They might as well go into movie making with all cgis realistic graphics they do.
This is why it takes them decade make game .
They got design beautiful world where noone gives crap about it ,cuz combat is not there so its non immersive as hell

 

[gameboy]

thank god this game was utter freaking trash.
the development hell it went thru ,it wasnt even final fantasy it was movie if that
square is doing this with each new game .

They might as well go into movie making with all cgis realistic graphics they do.
This is why it takes them decade make game .
They got design beautiful world where noone gives crap about it ,cuz combat is not there so its non immersive as hell

they tried, The Spirit Within, it bombed

 

[Deleted User]

Ouch. I was never going to play this game but it still sucks to find out it’ll be left unfinished.

 

[CathyRina]

I guess this explains the 33 million loss headline from before.
I feel bad for everyone who was looking forward to the DLC but at the same time... it's been 2 years since FF15 released. Let the game go already.

good the less FF the better they can start focusing on more better franchises like dragonquest and grandia and maybe even resurrect saga frontier.

Grandia is developed by Game Arts, not SE and we are getting a HD remaster of the first two games on the Switch & Steam soon.

 

[Deleted User]

damn that really sucks

 

[FutureAudio]

good the less FF the better they can start focusing on more better franchises like dragonquest and grandia and maybe even resurrect saga frontier.

If you hadn't said SaGa I would've been sad... I hope they make a cg saga action movie

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

they tried, The Spirit Within, it bombed

Kingsglaive and the advent children blu ray are pretty successful. Although one is originally a straight to dvd.

 

[gameboy]

Seriously....!?!
FF XIII trilogy says "hi" ;-P

Kingsglaive and the advent children blu ray are pretty successful. Although one is originally a straight to dvd.

ff13 trilogy was much better in gameplay and story. Kingsglaive meant nothing because FF15 is just an incomplete concept and Advent Children didnt have closure.

AND THIS..