Final Fantasy XV Cancels Three out of Four DLC Episodes, Director Tabata Resigns

Final Fantasy XV’s 2nd Anniversary livestream didn’t exactly end on a high note. Square Enix has decided to cancel three out of four of its Dawn of the Future season pass, specifically Episode Aranea, Episode Lunafreya, and Episode Noctis.

The game’s second season pass was initially meant to explore a brand new story arc, and even an entirely new ending. Like the first season pass, the set of four DLC episodes would star four different protagonists and release through the year 2019. However, in light of reporting an extraordinary loss in revenue, it looks like Square Enix is reexamining its direction and cutting off a majority of the season pass.

According to FFXV global brand director Akio Ofuji, a new company called Luminous Productions was formed recently, centered around the staff who had previously been developing the main game as part of Square Enix’s Business Division 2.

The main purpose of establishing Luminous Productions was to create a studio that can deliver a completely new AAA title to the global market. Due to this directional change, the company has decided to focus its resources on the development of a new AAA title. This resulted in the decision to cancel the production of three out of the four DLCs originally planned and introduced.

At the moment, only Episode Ardyn is in development, and will be the final piece of DLC for the game. Though this news isn’t particularly good, Ofuji hopes that fans will look forward to the company’s upcoming AAA title in the future.

The livestream also had Final Fantasy XV game director Hajime Tabata come forward with a message for fans. Tabata announced that he has officially resigned from Square Enix as of 31st October 2018. He was previously COO and head of Luminous Productions.

“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 group of talented and trustworthy colleagues and believe that they will create something amazing,” said Tabata.

Tabata’s other notable directorial works include Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and The 3rd Birthday.

Final Fantasy XV is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

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