Almost two months after rocking the video game industry with his departure from Square Enix, Hajime Tabata has announced his next venture. The former director of Final Fantasy XV is establishing a new company that will be known as JP Games. The company is aiming for an official launch in January 2019.
There isn’t much known about the startup at this point, outside of its name. We’re not sure what kind of games Tabata will focus on, though he has had experience in the console, handheld, and mobile spaces. It’s also unknown if this is a fully independent venture or if he will be partnering with an established company.
It will be interesting to see what kinds of projects Tabata focuses on, considering he more or less spent the better part of a decade working on the extended Final Fantasy XV universe, right up until he left Square Enix. After its initial release, Final Fantasy XV received a bunch of post-launch content, with the intent in filling in various plot holes. Even before his departure, Tabata on his team had announced they would be working on another four chapters for release in 2018 and 2019. Sadly, only one of them, Episode Ardyn, will ultimately release.
Tabata had even established a new studio within Square Enix earlier in 2018, making his resignation even more shocking. The studio, Luminous Productions, was established with the intention to create AAA titles. However, the studio also caused its parent company to suffer a massive financial loss. With Tabata’s departure, Square Enix has recently named his replacement as head of Luminous.
[Source: Facebook]
