The end of 2018 marked a rather harsh ending for fans of Final Fantasy XV, with the departure of Director Hajime Tabata from Square Enix, and the cancellation of most of the “A New Dawn” DLC.
Tabata-san then moved on to create his own new studio, named JP Games, with which he aims to revolutionize the way games are made.
Today, he posted a message on Facebook thanking the fans for their support, providing hints on his plans for 2019, and even a heartfelt apology to those affected by him leaving his previous position.
You can read the message in full below.
“2019”
Happy New Year Everybody!
In 2018, I was blessed with the support of so many people.At the same time, I realize I may have inconvenienced others in the interim. I’d like to take this time to apologize for any disturbances I may have caused last year. And to those who offered me their support throughout this time: please allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude to you once again.
This year, for starters, I will be committed to seriously updating the latest version of my “self.” I will prioritize my time to meeting with and learning a great deal of things from people whom I didn’t quite get a chance to meet before, as well as those whom I will be meeting for the very first time. And once my personal update is complete, I’m going to dive vigorously into my new work at hand.
I was deeply moved by the large number of people whom relentlessly showed their support for my endeavors, even though I had just recently resigned from my post at the big company. So again, I would like to thank all of you so very much. I promise I will do my best to meet your expectations.
Lastly, I truly want to thank each and everyone of you for posting kind comments on my behalf. I’m extremely honored—and needless to say—receiving so much power from your words.
There have been so many messages sent my way, so please forgive me for not being able to read all of them yet. I will take my time to read each and every one of them, little by little.So all of that being said—I ask for your continued support in 2019! I hope this New Year turns out to be a fantastic one for all of you as well.
Incidentally, Tabata-san established an office for his new team, as you can see below. He also mentioned that the official launch of the new studio will be around February 1st.
Personally, I love Final Fantasy XV, and certainly, I felt the blow when I heard that the “New Dawn” we were promised isn’t going to ever be released.
That being said, I am grateful to Tabata-san and the team for the feelings that their game gave me, so I can’t wait to see what he will do next. It appears that a long time may be required before we can hear anything tangible about new projects, but of course, you’ll be able to read all about it here on Twinfinite as soon as something is announced.
Published: Jan 6, 2019 07:46 pm