News ► Tetsuya Nomura Leaves Final Fantasy XV, Focusing on Kingdom Hearts 3

[Sign]

Surfacing from out of nowhere to everyone's surprise, Tetsuya Nomura has left Final Fantasy XV and will be focusing on other titles, such as Kingdom Hearts III. Replacing his position as director will be Hajime Tabata, who had formerly joined the project as the Co-Director.

Although further details have not been released, it must come as a shock to the worldwide community. Final Fantasy XV was announced in 2005 and has experienced rather shaky development over the years. Could it be that Nomura was taken off due to the incredible period of time that has passed and lack of release? 

View the press release below:

The company also announced today that, as part of a development restructure, Hajime Tabata, director of the original FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0 and FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0 HD, will now serve as the director of FINAL FANTASY XV, as the development of the title moves towards completion. This move allows Tetsuya Nomura to focus his full efforts as the director of other highly anticipated titles, including KINGDOM HEARTS III.

“In reviewing our development structure, we have decided to assign Hajime Tabata as the new director for FINAL FANTASY XV. Currently, Tabata and the entire development team are working, whole-heartedly, towards completing the production of FINAL FANTASY XV and ensuring the delivery of the highest quality FINAL FANTASY title to date,” said Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda regarding the staff changes. “We invite every one of our fans to view the fruits of our labor through FINAL FANTASY XV’s demo, and promise to present a game that further surpasses expectations when the finished product is released.

“As the director of FINAL FANTASY XV, Tetsuya Nomura has mainly worked on the original concept for the story and universe in addition to creating the characters. Hereafter, he will be focusing his efforts on the production of titles that can only be made possible by Nomura, himself, and delivering products that exceed the quality of past titles, starting with another one of his representative projects, KINGDOM HEARTS III. Square Enix will continue to work on these titles with the best staff formation in an effort to deliver them to everyone as soon as possible and appreciates your continued support.”

Square Enix Europe also commented on Nomura's departure from Final Fantasy XV:

If that wasn’t enough news, I’ve got a little something else to share with you. Now I know you guys want us at Square Enix to be more open with you and to keep you updated with all the goings on with our games so I’m going to talk to you a little more about Final Fantasy XV since I’m sure you guys are just as excited about it as I am (which is VERY excited).

The development of Final Fantasy XV is coming along really well and as a result Hajime Tabata (the director of the original Final Fantasy Type-0 and Type-0 HD) has taken over from Tetsuya Nomura as the director of Final Fantasy XV. 

Now before you start to freak out, let me explain how this is a good thing. There’s no denying that Tetsuya Nomura has been instrumental to the development of Final Fantasy XV and he’s done an incredible job. His main role as director was working on the original concept for the story and universe and also creating the characters. Now that development of Final Fantasy XV has come so far, Nomura’s work is pretty much all in place so instead of having him keep an eye on the more day to day stuff, we thought it’d be a better idea to pass the reigns over to Hajime Tabata and let Nomura move onto other projects and make games that only he could do, you know, like Kingdom Hearts III.

So now we have Hajime Tabata and the rest of his team working as hard as they can on Final Fantasy XV and making sure it’s the best game it can possibly be and we have Tetsuya Nomura and the Kingdom Hearts III team working as hard as they can to make that the best game that can be. It also means that both games will come out much sooner this way. Instead of waiting until Final Fantasy XV comes out before starting on Kingdom Hearts III, Tetsuya Nomura can now properly begin work on Kingdom Hearts III right now and with Tabata in the director’s chair, Final Fantasy XV won’t suffer either.

Hajime Tabata and his team are a bunch of really talented people and Final Fantasy XV is in good hands for the rest of its development but even if you don’t want to believe me, you can find out for yourself on 20th March 2015 when you can play Final Fantasy XV for yourself along with Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.

Why do you think Nomura has left the project? Do you think this will impact Kingdom Hearts 3 in any way, and if so, how?

 

[crash13]

I'm hyped. I think this means KH3 is in full force now.

 

[Face My Fears]

I'm happy. I didn't even know about FF XV being announced back then. Now KHIII can get the focus that it deserves.

 

[Sign]

XV was his baby. I can't imagine he'd ever leave the project voluntarily. If he was forced off the project for one reason or another, the impact can't be good for him.

This puts KH3 in a questionable position.

 

[Dandelion]

I'm happy. I didn't even know about FF XV being announced back then. Now KHIII can get the focus that it deserves.

The post is off by a year, it was revealed in 2006, but yeah it's been a long haul. I wonder if this means that Nomura's happy enough with XV's development, or if he wasn't feeling the pressure. I vaguely recall him saying that FF XV would be his last time directing a final fantasy because of that. I could be misremembering that though. Either way, YAY KH3

 

[LightUpTheSky452]

I'm so torn about this. On one hand, it might mean that we'll get KH sooner and that it's getting Nomura's focus that it needs. XV also seems to be moving more swiftly now, but...

I feel so bad for Nomura. So bad, in fact. Poor man. I don't pity him his predicament at all. I wonder if this will end up effecting the mood of the game at all... Wow.

I also wonder if this is why they've been recruiting more people for KHIII lately, because they are moving along with III faster now that Nomura's more at the helm again.

 

[mLahulia]

im takin this as a good sign

 

[Ruran]

This is REALLY surprising, yet...idk. I don't see it as a bad thing. FFXV has been a thing for almost ten years now and with a playable demo coming out early next year I think this just might mean that there isn't much else for Nomura to "do". The story must've been finished forever ago as well as all the ground work, voice acting, music, etc. At this point it's just a matter of putting everything together. Unless Nomura hasn't actually been involved with FFXV for a long time and just recently chose to announce it, then he was already involved with most of the heavy lifting and Tabata will be putting the final touches. Unless Tabata does an enormous overhaul, it's still "Nomura's game".

I don't take it as a bad sign, I think it just means that Square is confident enough with XV's progress that Nomura doesn't have to be there because all the fundamentals are ready and Nomura can now focus on his one true love-Kingdom Hearts.

Or I'm being overly optimistic, lol.

 

[Chaser]

The post is off by a year, it was revealed in 2006, but yeah it's been a long haul. I wonder if this means that Nomura's happy enough with XV's development, or if he wasn't feeling the pressure. I vaguely recall him saying that FF XV would be his last time directing a final fantasy because of that. I could be misremembering that though. Either way, YAY KH3

I don't think he's happy. He's spent the last 8 years trying to get it right and he couldn't. Now he lost his directors job on the game.

 

[DefiantHeart]

Personally I think they removed him since he already seemed to have his hands full with the other projects. They're putting a lot of demand on Nomura it seems lately, so I hope that helps makes things less stressful for him.

 

[Luap]

I really wonder what the specific circumstances behind this are. To be in charge of a project for 8 years, and then have it taken away from you sounds horrible... but, considering it's really bumpy development cycle, it could also be sort of a relief? It's possible he stepped down; got what he felt was a good foundation started, and then went on to KH3 which requires his involvement. But it's also possible that he was forced out. Depending on what happened, this could put KH3 in either a really bad or really good place.

Hopefully in an interview Nomura will address this. If he left voluntarily, I can't see a reason for him to not talk about it. If he was forced out, then he probably won't be allowed to talk about it. This is concerning, but I wanna stay hopeful and believe that this will be a good thing.

 

[Lnds500]

I am truly shocked. For me XV = Nomura. To be working on a game for so many years (yes, doing a shitty job - that's true) and being removed from it. What a terrible blow...

 

[Zettaflare]

Wow, I did not see this coming. I'm not quite sure how to feel. This was going to be Nomura's first FF title.


Though this does lead me to wonder what's going to happen with KH3, since this could mean he has more time to work on it. Maybe it might be released sooner than we thought.

 

[Taochan]

Knowing Nomura, he probably quit. I think he ran away back to the safety of Kingdom Hearts, where he has total creative freedom and far less pressure. Tabata joining must have ruffled feathers.

I'm honestly quite sad about the entire situation. Tabata is fantastic, but this was Nomura's baby and he spent a long time working on it only to not finish it.

 

[Alpha Sonix]

Honestly, I think this can only be good for the guy. I've always felt that Nomura likes to manage too many projects at once and ultimately that means he spends less time with his family so even if it is disheartening that he won't be able to oversee the project anymore, it probably is best for his health and it also means he can focus his full attention on KH3.

In terms of FFXV though, what does this say about its development cycle?

 

[Ruran]

As the director of FINAL FANTASY XV, Tetsuya Nomura has mainly worked on the original concept for the story and universe in addition to creating the characters. Hereafter, he will be focusing his efforts on the production of titles that can only be made possible by Nomura, himself, and delivering products that exceed the quality of past titles, starting with another one of his representative projects, KINGDOM HEARTS III. Square Enix will continue to work on these titles with the best staff formation in an effort to deliver them to everyone as soon as possible and appreciates your continued support.

This is such a weird phrasing... What does this even mean? It just gives me the mental image of Nomura working forever alone in a dark room trying to finish all his projects as a one man team.

Nomura exile confirmed.

 

[gosoxtim]

This is such a weird phrasing... What does this even mean? It just gives me the mental image of Nomura working forever alone in a dark room trying to finish all his projects as a one man team.

Nomura exile confirmed.

that ign wording for you ign always word there articles like that you can't spell ignorant without ign

 

[Chaser]

that ign wording for you ign always word there articles like that you can't spell ignorant without ign

Actually that's from an official press release from Square Enix.

 

[Lnds500]

In terms of FFXV though, what does this say about its development cycle?

At this point, they just wanna piss us off.

 

[robvandam111]

This is such a weird phrasing... What does this even mean? It just gives me the mental image of Nomura working forever alone in a dark room trying to finish all his projects as a one man team.

Nomura exile confirmed.

Maybe they're just complimenting him. Meaning, there was something wrong with the original production of the game. So he's been working on it immensely to make sure the quality exceeds expectations due to past negativities. And now he's onto bigger things and that's KH3.