Ex-Final Fantasy XV Director Hajime Tabata Establishes New Studio ‘JP Games’

Recently, Final Fantasy XV director and studio head Hajime Tabata left Square Enix after taking over the role of director and turning Final Fantasy XV into what it is today, which wasn’t the state it was in when he took over.

Today, Tabata-san announced in a Facebook post, “I started up my own company called JP Games, Inc, Right now, we are preparing for a target January 2019 launch. And to everyone who has assisted me until today–I kindly ask for your ongoing support.”

Usually, when a studio launches they also show off their concept ideas and what they plan to work on. At this time, Tabata-san hasn’t announced any other members on the team, but I’m sure with his stature and notoriety others will follow.

Tabata-san past works include being the director of game Final Fantasy Type-0, Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, and The 3rd Birthday. Looking at his past works, it’s going to be interesting to see which direction he takes, especially since his background is mainly working on mobile games.

Author’s take: Tabata-san has worked on the Final Fantasy series for years, he deserves a nice change of pace after bringing the FFXV project from nothing to something that is beloved by fans. I’ll look forward to whatever the studio reveals.