Square Enix Cancels Three Of Its Planned DLCs For 'Final Fantasy XV'

Developer Square Enix has announced that three of the four upcoming DLCs for “Final Fantasy XV” have been canceled. The developer also confirmed that the game’s director, Hajime Tabata, has left the company after his last day at Square Enix on Oct. 31.

The canceled DLC episodes for “Final Fantasy XV” are the ones involving the characters Aranea, Lunafreye and Noctis. The only DLC that’s still in development is for the character Ardyn, which is scheduled to be released in March 2019. The expansion packs were being developed by Luminous, a new studio that’s under Square Enix. Instead of developing these DLC episodes, Luminous will now focus on making a new AAA game that is still unnamed.

“A new company called Luminous Productions was formed, centered around the staff who had previously been developing the main game as part of BD2, and they have continued to work on the project since,” Square Enix brand director Akio Ofuji said during the live stream announcement, as per PC Gamer.

“The main purpose of establishing Luminous Productions was to create a studio that can deliver a completely new AAA title to the global market. The desire is to deliver this new AAA experience to everyone even a day [sic] sooner, and due to this directional change, the company decided to focus our resources on the development of this AAA title.”

As for Tabata, he said that he is now starting his own company and that he already has a project that he is working on. This is also the reason why he decided to resign from Square Enix as the director of “Final Fantasy XV” and the head of Luminous.

“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,” Tabata was quoted as saying by GameSpot. “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”

Square Enix also announced that the multiplayer component of “Final Fantasy XV,” called “Comrades,” is going to be released as a standalone game on Dec. 13 for the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4. This means that players who are interested to play the multiplayer component won’t need the base game. Those who already purchased the “Comrades” expansion with their copy of “Final Fantasy XV” will get the standalone version for free when it comes out.

Additionally, Square Enix will have a new cross-promotion in “Final Fantasy XIV Online” called “Adventurer From Another World.” It will be available on the PS4, Xbox One and PC versions of “Final Fantasy XV” starting on Dec. 12. Lastly, the short anime film “Final Fantasy XV Episode Prologue” will have its first teaser trailer released on Dec. 15 and its second teaser will premiere on Jan. 10, 2019.