Final Fantasy 15 Director Regrets Canceling Promised DLCs

When discussing the circumstances of his departure with Taiwanese gaming website 4Gamer, Final Fantasy 15 director Hajime Tabata talked about his experience on working to create his most widely recognized title. In particular, Tabata-san mentions how much he regrets not being able to work on the DLC that was promised for Final Fantasy 15. 

Final Fantasy 15 released numerous character DLCs following its launch, with each of them adding more layers to the game’s story and its characters. However, after the release of its last DLC chapter, Episode Ardyn, Square Enix halted all future DLC for the game This meant that a large chunk of the game’s story has still remain untold, with what’s left being told through a novel called “Final Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future.”

What I think is unfortunate. The planned DLC has been canceled. It’s such a shame. We had a lot of additional content planned for FFXV, but in the end, some of it was canceled. It was really unavoidable at the time, but I still regret it to this day. We couldn’t keep our promises and we couldn’t deliver all the content we planned to give to the players who were looking forward to it.”

Tabata-san further addresses that the decision to cancel the DLC was not up to him and he could not stop it, suggesting that it was a decision from the higher-ups at Square Enix. He talks about how the frustration he felt during that time channeled his desire to work more freely. Currently, Tabata-san has his own independent studio called “JP Games” which includes numerous people from the Final Fantasy 15 development team.

Speaking of Final Fantasy DLC, a few days ago, Final Fantasy 16 director Hiroshi Takai gave us a bit more information about the upcoming story DLC. Takai-san says that the DLC will allow players to learn more about the world and “experience the darkness and mystery of Clive’s story”. Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis is also coming to PC  after a long wait.

Canceling the DLC wasn’t a decision I made, but I couldn’t stop it, so I was even more depressed at the time. However, the frustration I felt also motivated me to make better games from a free standpoint. I have friends who share the same thoughts, so I want to take on new challenges with this team, and I also want to make up for it by providing new and interesting games for the players who I disappointed at the time.” 

Currently, Tabata-san is working on an open-world RPG title under the name of “Ryugu Koku” which he describes as an MMORPG with an emphasis on the single-player experience. Still, players will be able to see many other players in the world as well.