Square Enix cancels Final Fantasy XV DLC; Hajime Tabata resigns

In one of the strangest things I’ve seen in my entire time covering games, Square Enix has announced they are canceling 3 out of the 4 planned DLCs for Final Fantasy XV. On top of that, game director Hajime Tabata has resigned from the Japanese company to pursue a new project under his own new studio.

What makes this so strange is that this didn’t come the way of a press release or anything, it came through a “special” live stream just ahead of the second anniversary of Final Fantasy XV. Many fans were thinking they had some cool surprises regarding upcoming DLC and maybe more… and yeah, I guess they were right for thinking that it just wasn’t a good version of that scenario.

For starters, Final Fantasy XV’s Aranea, Lunafreye, and Noctis DLC episodes are canceled. The only one still planned for release is Ardyn which will come out in March 2019 on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Square Enix’s internal studio, Luminous, was working on all these DLCs but have shifted focus to a new AAA game project which hasn’t been announced or detailed yet. Square Enix reported a loss of $33 million following the shift in focus at Luminous.

Final Fantasy XV’s director Hajime Tabata also took this time during the live stream to announce he’s departing from the company as he wishes to pursue another project.

“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 said.

“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,” he added.

On the slightly better side of things, Final Fantasy XV’s multiplayer expansion will now be a standalone game meaning you won’t need to own the base game. The game now known as Final Fantasy XV: Multiplayer Comrades will be free to those who already paid for the expansion and will include 10 more bosses as well as additional costumes and weapons.

Final Fantasy XV is out now on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.