The director of Final Fantasy XV has quit Square Enix and three of the four DLC episodes that were planned for the next year have been canceled. It's not clear what came first in this case, the chicken or the egg, but whatever he left first, or the DLC was cancelled causing him to quit, Final Fantasy XV's development is no longer ongoing in the fashion it was before.
Final Fantasy XV has been a monster hit for Square Enix, selling more than eight million copies worldwide since it was released in 2016 and it's seen a number of popular DLC releases since then. There were four more planned over the next 12 months, but now only one of those will be released, with the other three being canceled outright. Now the only one that will be released is Episode Ardyn, planned to debut in March 2019, as per PCGamesN.
The reason behind the move seems most likely to be related to Square Enix's poor earnings report, which saw it publishing a loss of a massive $33 million. Overall revenue was down 15 percent year on year, with profits dipping as much as 50 percent, even with big game launches like Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
As for the game's director, Hajime Tabata, he announced his leaving Square Enix as a positive move for him and the company, stating that it was time for him to "hand over the torch to the next generation." As for his future, he announced plans to take on "a brand new project" that will "draw on all my past experiences," at a new company of his own creation.
It's not clear what this news means for other Final Fantasy related projects, like the remake of Final Fantasy VII, which is one of Square's most long-requested remasterings.
