Square Enix has announced that the long-running Final Fantasy XV project has had a change of leadership. Hajime Tabata (Final Fantasy Type 0, Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII) is now serving as director, and Tetsuya Nomura is now focusing on other projects.
The main title receiving Nomura's attention at the moment is Kingdom Hearts III. In a press release, Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda says:
"Hereafter, [Nomura] will be focusing his efforts on the production of titles that can only be made
possible by Nomura, himself, and delivering products that exceed the quality of
past titles, starting with another one of his representative projects, Kingdom Hearts III. Square Enix will continue to work on these titles with the best staff formation in an effort to deliver them to
everyone as soon as possible and appreciates your continued support."
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This is a major change for Final Fantasy XV, which has had Nomura at the helm since its announcement (as Final Fantasy Versus XIII) in 2006. The news also comes alongside the reveal of an upcoming Final Fantasy XV demo, so it appears that this game's days of languishing in development limbo are done.
Our Take
I know that Nomura has plenty of fans, but after so many years, it seems pretty clear that Final Fantasy XV was not getting finished under his supervision. It's a smart move on Square Enix's part to announce the change in leadership at the same time that the company is also announcing a demo for FF XV; it sends the message that the game is now progressing properly under Tabata's direction.
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