Back in 2018, Final Fantasy 15 director Hajima Tabata left Square Enix for new pastures. This sadly resulted in the cancellation of all Final Fantasy 15 DLC save one and essentially bookended the project for good. While, of course, Final Fantasy is going as strong as ever for Square Enix, Tabata would move on to form his own studio JP Games that launched in January 2019.
Its first game announcement was one of a kind and announced in June 2021. Themed around the 2020 Summer Paralympics, The Pegasus Dream Tour is the only game from JP Games currently known to the public. However, JP Games has been hard at work on another project that will be revealed in 2022.
First revealed by 4Gamer, Tabata stated that it “looks like” he’ll be announcing a brand new JRPG in 2022. Details are obviously scarce right now as to what that is, but JRPGs had a strong 2021. It stands to reason that 2022 could be even bigger, including this project, Atlus’ projects, and more, whether they are being released or announced.
Tabata has a long history in game development, and while it’s understandable for JP Games to venture into other prospects like The Pegasus Dream Tour, JRPGs are essentially Tabata’s bread and butter. At Square Enix, he worked on several projects aside from Final Fantasy 15 and its iterations, with credits on Monster Rancher 2, Final Fantasy 7 Before Crisis and Crisis Core, Final Fantasy Type-O, Final Fantasy agito, Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, and more.
It remains to be seen how Final Fantasy-esque JP Games’ new JRPG is or how far it ventures out for its own identity, but for fans of Final Fantasy 15 and the franchise at large, it may be one worth keeping an eye on. Meanwhile, of course, there is still plenty of Final Fantasy itself on the horizon.
Final Fantasy 14 is as popular as ever and perhaps even more so. The latest expansion for it, FF14: Endwalker, has seen fans flock to it and making it near impossible to play due to server congestion. It’s a problem, but a problem that results from its popular which is not a bad thing. Then, of course, Final Fantasy 16 news is on the horizon, as the next major reveal for it is set in the Spring. Ultimately, it seems that the future of JRPGs is as promising as ever.
Final Fantasy 15 is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
Source: 4Gamer (via Twinfinite)