Final Fantasy XV Director Resigns, Cancels Most DLC

Yesterday, the gaming world was rocked when, during a stream to showcase upcoming DLC for Final Fantasy XV, it was very abruptly announced that they would be canceling 75% of the DLC they were going to release for the game, and more shockingly, that director Hajime Tabata would be leaving the company.

"I was able to gain so much experience with my time at Square Enix. Every time I was able to be a part of means a lot to me. However, FFXV 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 FFXV to all the fans who have supported the title across from 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 FFXV. For that reason, I have decided to leave my current position and start my own business in order to achieve my goal.”

This is a bit shocking as Hajime Tabata was a long-standing mainstay over in Square Enix: he was credited in nineteen different games, dating back to 1999’s Monster Rancher 2, and is COO of Luminous Productions, which was created to support Final Fantasy XV and future projects. It was even postulated that he would soon become the new name and face of Final Fantasy, sort of like Square Enix’s own Shigeru Miyamoto.

That said, in a separate but related announcement made by Square Enix, they revealed that Luminous Productions had actually lost over 33 million dollars thanks to some bad business deals. If this is related to the canceled DLC, or if it’s something else entirely, there’s no way we can know right now.

All the same, this means that Final Fantasy XV is pretty much over. One last DLC will be launched in March, Episode Ardyn, but everything else, including map editors and mod tools, have been shelved.

Something weird is going on at Square Enix. I wouldn’t quite call it a “Code Crytek” just yet, but they’re definitely shifting some gears behind the scene over there. If that will ever translate to something positive, though… we’ll just have to cross our fingers.