Final Fantasy XV is a game that was in development hell for a long time until it was finally released under a new director, Hajime Tabata.
Before taking up the mantle to work on Final Fantasy XV as a full-time director, while also managing Square Enix’s Business Division 2, Tabata was mostly known for his work on Final Fantasy spin-offs like Type-0 and Crisis Core. He was not that big at that point to be simply given a new mainline Final Fantasy game, and yet it happened as Nomura was taken off from the project to work on his own Kingdom Hearts 3 while taking charge of the new Final Fantasy VII Remake as a game director.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is now all set to launch in late January next year but Final Fantasy VII Remake is unfortunately nowhere to be found, and as this console generation comes to an end, its future is in doubt as well due to the troubled development cycle it has faced so far. Despite all this, Final Fantasy XV managed to not only launch on time with just a short last-minute delay, but it also made a lot of money and was profitable within day one sales. It then continued to sell and was later released on PC where it has to-date sold through 500K copies.
The cumulative life-to-date sales for the game stand at 8.1 million as reported at TGS 2018, and it was the fastest selling Final Fantasy on pace to hit the top 3 best selling in the series. So what happened here? No one really knows aside from Square Enix and Tabata himself, but the news of Tabata resigning and at least three of the announced DLC getting canceled hit the fans hard. Here is what they had to say about it on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Ray Chase (Noctis Voice Actor)
I'm sorry the journey had to end this way, but I'm so grateful for the friends I made along the way.
— Ray Chase (@RayChase) November 8, 2018
Robbie Daymond (Prompto Voice Actor)
My favorite games never had dlc & I still love them. No experience ever "ends" so long as the community built around it & their enjoyment of it continue to thrive. The final brushstroke of #FFXV is painted & it's a beautiful piece of art.
Love & gratitude to you all. -Prompto- pic.twitter.com/MBSv2ho5jW— Robbie Daymond (@robbiedaymond) November 8, 2018
It's… More than I can take #FF15 #FF15MOD #FF15MODWATCH pic.twitter.com/6ir84xizx4
— Banana Man (@mrsaturn241) November 8, 2018
I'm still sad about Tabata's departure from Square. He made beautiful games despite their flaws. Moments I'll never forget. SE put so much pressure on him. Thank you, Tabata, you deserved better.#FinalFantasy #FFXV #FFVII pic.twitter.com/Nw422WecyF
— Haidø |ᴋʜ (@Haidox3D) November 8, 2018
Everyone's feelings after the #FFXV stream…..
But we still love each other~
We laugh together, we cry together.#Noctis #FFXV #FinalFantasyXV pic.twitter.com/z3wAvZSdmF— Duckie-sama🐤 (@akumarations) November 8, 2018
Thank you Tabata-san for all the time and hard work you put into the game. It's been a crazy ride, seeing the project resurrected from the ashes after beeing in development hell for ages and then finally hitting the stores 2 years ago. #FFXV
Here's to new adventures! pic.twitter.com/qWhaMHPDF6
— Ouji (@FinalXV) November 8, 2018
all i wanted was to see him smile one more time…
i'm too sad to make a proper drawing so this is all i could do #FFXV #Noctis pic.twitter.com/cy4UR2dF6t— Addigni (@addigni) November 8, 2018
TLDR;
The FFXV has been the most fun and interactive fandom I've been apart of in such a long time.
The dev process of this game imo was an utter nightmare and from #FFXV sprouted a treasure trove of FRIENDSHIPS and FAN CONTENT that continues to amaze and inspire me.
TY FFXV!!
— Rose @ HolMat Prep (@alchemic_rose) November 8, 2018
I feel bad for FFXV
Sure the game had its problems but it does atleast deserve to release the remaining DLCs so that the developers work doesn’t go to waste— Faisal (@Zeldamn) November 8, 2018
Shout out to the FFXV team for trying their best to support the fans. These decisions of cancelling comes down to the higher ups. It really sucks, but they did their best. That matters. Respect to the team and Tabata.
— Miraculous Maku (@RedMakuzawa) November 8, 2018
It is a bittersweet ending for a game that faced long and tumulus development cycle, and when finally it started to feel like things were back on track, it all ended abruptly. I have personally loved my time with it and enjoyed every moment of it, so it was terrible to see this through the end. There is still a story DLC coming next year in March focused on Ardyn’s past, and there will be an update to release the Final Fantasy XIV collaboration later this December.
