Final Fantasy 15 director is working on two new RPGs, explains why he left Square Enix in 2018

Final Fantasy 15 screenshot showing Noctis
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Final Fantasy 15's director Hajime Tabata has revealed why he left Square Enix in 2018. 

Two years after the release of Final Fantasy 15, Tabata resigned from his role as director of the game which led to three out of four DLC episodes - Aranea, Lunafreya, and Noctis - being canceled

At the time it wasn't revealed why the director decided to leave the company, but in a recent interview with 4Gamer (via GamesRadar+) he finally shared his reason, stating that he couldn't explain his reason back in 2018 but thinks it's right to be honest in 2023.

Although he joked that the details have become a little hazy over the years, Tabata explained that he shared "different" philosophies with former Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda.

Tabata added that the decision was years in the making, but he finally decided to resign in 2018 when it became clear that the company was going ahead with Matsuda's policies.

Tabata also recently announced during Taiwan Creative Content Fest 2023 that he's currently working on two games at his company JP Games. One is an original, in-house MMORPG, while the other is an RPG that will be worked on in collaboration with a different company. 

Square Enix is currently gearing up for its next release in the Final Fantasy franchise, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. The game is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake and is coming to PS5 on  February 29, 2024, however, Final Fantasy 7 series creative director Tetsuya Nomura recently confirmed that Rebirth won't be getting any DLC after its launch.

On the other hand, alongside the PC release of Final Fantasy 16 next year, producer Naoki Yoshida has confirmed that the RPG will also be getting two DLC packs

In the meantime, why not check out our list of the best story games to play right now, as well as our list of the best RPGs for console and PC?