 |
| Peter Triezenberg |
Luminous Studio to refocus on new project.
11.08.18 - 12:03 AM
Square Enix recently held a special broadcast focused on future developments for Final Fantasy XV. During this presentation, it was unfortunately revealed that, of the four planned DLC episodes expected to release in 2019, three of them have been cancelled. While Square Enix will still move ahead with Episode Ardyn, Episodes Aranea, Lunafreya, and Noctis have been cancelled. In addition, Final Fantasy XV's director, Hajime Tabata, has resigned from Square Enix as of October 31st. This news comes after Square reported a huge loss on Luminous investments to shareholders, something in the ballpark of $33 million USD.
The decision to cancel the other three DLC episodes comes from the newly formed Luminous Productions, which is currently working on a new AAA title and has diverted resources towards that project. According to Tabata in his resignation letter, he will be "cheering on" Square Enix and Luminous Productions while working on his own independent project. Production on Episode Ardyn will continue: the episode, which launches in March 2019, will take place 30 years before the events of Final Fantasy XV and will focus on his revenge against the line of Lucis. A special prologue animation for Episode Ardyn will release beforehand. You can watch a brief trailer below.
In other XV news, the Comrades multiplayer mode will be receiving a standalone release for PS4 and XB1 on December 12th, 2018 (sorry, PC players). This new version of the game will include new bosses, costumes, and weapons, and will be available for free to those who already have a previous version of Comrades: for newcomers, it will cost $9.99 USD. Whether or not this version of Comrades will make its way to PC is unknown at this time, as further updates for the PC version of Final Fantasy XV will reportedly cease.
In a final tidbit of XV news, Naoki Yoshida made a brief appearance in the presentation to announce a forthcoming collaboration with Final Fantasy XIV. Entitled "Adventurer from Another World," players will be able to experience XIV-themed content in Final Fantasy XV on December 12th, across all platforms.
Final Fantasy XV ended up being a divisive game for many fans (I liked it, for whatever that's worth), following a tumultuous development cycle that spanned multiple console generations. Regardless of anyone's feelings on how the final product turned out, however, it's sad to see Hajime Tabata leaving Square Enix on such an apparently sour note. We here at RPGFan wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.
Stay tuned to RPGFan for more coverage of the Final Fantasy series. If you want to read more about Final Fantasy XV from us, check out our original review from the game's release, as well as several pieces in our Final Fantasy 30th anniversary feature.
