In rather unfortunate and surprising news today, fabled RPG developers Square Enix has announced the cancellation of three of the four planned episode DLC for Final Fantasy XV, and game director Hajime Tabata was no longer with the company, with his last day being October 31.
The cancelled content were episodes focused on Aranea, Lunafreye, and Noctis, however, the DLC of Ardyn remains in development and is still set to be released in March, 2019.
Luminous, the new Square Enix internal studio, was leading the development on these expansions. With this change, the team will now be focused on developing a new unannounced AAA game.
In an earnings report, Square Enix also announced a big change to Luminous that led to an “extraordinary loss” of $33 million, which could be linked to the cancellation of the DLC content.
Tabata will now be heading up his own independent company, and left some heartfelt words for the many passionate fans 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. 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. 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 FFXV and those who have also supported myself personally,”
Hajime Tabata
Final Fantasy XV‘s Comrades, its multiplayer mode will also be made a standalone game, with an additional 10 new bosses added and even more costumes and weapons being added. Launching on December 13, FFXV: Multiplayer Comrades will be free to gamers who already own the Comrades expansion.
There will be more cross-promotion with Final Fantasy XIV Online, with an event called “Adventurer From Another World” being available inside Final Fantasy XV on all platforms on December 12.
Final Fantasy XV Episode Prologue, a new short-form anime is also on the way. A teaser will be released on December 15, with a second one coming on January 10.
Jake is a full-time trophy hunter and achievement gatherer on consoles, and part-time Steam Sale victim. He has a thing for Batman and awesome statues, and running out of space for both. Send help.
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