Hajime Tabata, director of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Type-0, and Final Fantasy XV, has established his own video game studio titled JP Games. News comes by way of a Facebook post Tabata made, where he goes on to state, “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.” That’s the official launch of the studio, and not the launch of a game, mind you.

His departure from Square-Enix was announced last month as part of a Final Fantasy XV news update stream where three of four DLC episodes for the game were canceled and Tabata stated his reasons for leaving. “In regards to my next endeavors and near future, I have a project that I truly wish to solidify as my next challenge after FFXV.”

What Tabata’s next project is remains a mystery, but for him to leave Square Enix after directing a critically and commercially successful numbered entry into the company’s most important franchise, there must be an incredible amount of passion he has for it. Or perhaps it was that after the success of Final Fantasy XV, Square had very specific expectations of Tabata that didn’t align with what he wanted to do next. With that in mind, it’s worth noting that Square Enix announced Monday that they have promoted Final Fantasy XV’s lead programmer, Takeshi Aramaki, to be the new head of Tabata’s former studio, Luminous Productions.

If you’ve played the Final Fantasy games that Tabata is responsible for, you’ll have likely noticed that they are unlike other entries in the series in that they’re more fond of realism, often feature blood, and have emotionally devastating endings. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say JP Games‘ first title will be a JRPG with a focus less on the fantastic and more on the real world. Whatever he may be working on next, I look forward to it, and you can be sure we’ll cover it here!

Good luck, Tabata-san!

Thanks, Gematsu!

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Written by ChronoSloth

Video game reviewer who particularly loves the fourth and fifth generation of consoles. In an exclusive love triangle with Nintendo and PlayStation. Fluent in Al Bhed and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 combo notation. Follow him on Instagram to see lots of pictures of video games.