The development of Final Fantasy XV, a Japanese action role-playing video game, began in 2006 shortly before its announcement at that year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Square Enix handled primary development, and the game was released worldwide in November 2016 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game was originally announced as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a PlayStation 3-exclusive spin-off title. It was part of Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy, a subseries of games linked by a common mythos: while retaining thematic links, specific references were removed to aid with marketing. The game was originally directed by Tetsuya Nomura, who also created the story concept and main character designs. Nomura wanted to create a darker Final Fantasy title unsuitable for the main series. The initial development went slowly, and by 2007 the scale of the project generated discussions about rebranding the game as the next main entry in the series. Production on Versus XIII ended in 2012, when it was rebranded as Final Fantasy XV and transferred onto eighth-generation gaming hardware consoles.
After changing platforms, a production team headed by Hajime Tabata was brought on board to aid development. Tabata became co-director, and was eventually promoted to sole director after Nomura was transferred to work on other projects within the company. After the transition to eighth-generation hardware, multiple changes were made so that it better suited the new consoles and its new status as a mainline game: these included radical staff reshuffles, and the reevaluation of the game's content. The latter part resulted in some scenes and characters from Versus XIII being cut. Later in production, multiple other studios were brought in to help with various aspects of the game. Originally built using the company's proprietary Crystal Tools game engine, after the platform change it shifted to Luminous Engine, which was designed for next-generation platforms. Across both versions, development of Final Fantasy XV lasted ten years.
Since its original announcement, release of information became sporadic, leading to video game journalists labeling it as vaporware and eventually to rumors of its cancellation. After its public rebranding in 2013, the silence continued until its appearance at the 2014 Tokyo Game Show, at which point development and progress information was released on a regular basis. A demo for the game, Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae, was released in March 2015 with first print copies of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD. Promotion for the title was effectively restarted at the 2015 Gamescom. Its release was delayed due to polishing work and the wish for a simultaneous worldwide release, a first for the series.
Additional media was created to portray the world of XV without using sequels; dubbed the "Final Fantasy XV Universe", it included a feature film, an original net animation, a virtual reality simulation game, multiple mobile projects including an abridged version of the game, ports to Windows and Stadia, and a novel The Dawn of the Future depicting an alternate finale. Cosmetic, gameplay and story-based downloadable content (DLC) were developed between 2016 and 2019 to fix issues raised by players and expand upon the base game.
Production Staff
Final Fantasy XV was originally a spin-off title named Final Fantasy Versus XIII, created by Square Enix as part of the wider Final Fantasy franchise. It was directed by Tetsuya Nomura, and produced by Shinji Hashimoto and Yoshinori Kitase. Nomura created the original scenario, designed the main characters, and was one of the designers. The CGI cutscenes were directed by Takeshi Nozue, who had previously worked on Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The music was composed by Yoko Shimomura, and the script was written by regular Final Fantasy scenario writer Kazushige Nojima. Tomohiro Hasewaga was art director, the mechanical designer was Takeyuki Takeya, and the event planning director was Jun Akiyama.
After the game's name and platform change in 2012, there were multiple staff reshuffles, though Shimomura, Hashimoto, Hasewaga and Nozue retained their original positions. Nomura became co-director alongside Hajime Tabata, the director of Final Fantasy Type-0, until 2013 when he was assigned to other projects. Saori Itamuro became the new scriptwriter, using Nojima's original scenario as a base for the new work. Kitase left as co-producer, while Yusuke Naora, Isamu Kamikokuryo, and many artists involved in the development of Type-0 were involved. Non-Japanese staff included character designer Roberto Ferrari, and designer Prasert Prasertvithyakarn and Wan Hazmer. The staff as formed in 2012, not counting later additions, was made up of the combined Final Fantasy XV and Type-0 development teams. By 2014, between 200 and 300 people were working on the game.
From 2006 to 2013, Final Fantasy XV was developed by what was then Square Enix 1st Production Department. In the wake of extensive business restructuring in 2013, development was transferred to the newly formed Business Division 2, headed by Tabata and incorporating the core Final Fantasy development team. In 2018, the Final Fantasy XV team was incorporated into Luminous Productions, a subsidiary led by Tabata which continued to work on both a then-untitled project and post-release content for Final Fantasy XV.
Square Enix also recruited help from other development studios: HexaDrive was brought in to help with engineering the game, XPEC Entertainment helped with the design for later sections, Shanghai company Plusmile helped with building design, licensed middleware from Umbra was used to boost the graphics, while Streamline Studios was brought in to help with technical development. It was initially supposed, after an announcement in 2015, that Avalanche Studios was brought on board to help create the game's airship mechanics. In the event, Avalanche and Square Enix did not directly collaborate: instead, Avalanche showed them their level of detail development methods, and Square Enix's internal team created the airship mechanics using that information.
The image illustration and logo design was done by Yoshitaka Amano, who was brought on at the beginning of the game's production and designed the logo based on the game's themes. Several pieces of Amano's original artwork were retained and used in promotion when the game changed from Versus XIII to XV. In contrast to other major parts of the game, the logo artwork survived almost unchanged aside from its coloring. Amano also designed a new version of the logo that faded in during the game's ending, collaborating with the development team on its use. According to Tabata, the new logo signified the beginning of a new journey, and the game's development since it was known as Versus XIII.
Development
Final Fantasy Versus XIII was created as part of Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy, a subseries within the Final Fantasy franchise featuring games linked by a common mythos which included Final Fantasy XIII and Type-0: apart from the mythos, they are completely separate, and each game's staff are able to interpret the mythos for each game. Versus XIII was one of the original titles created for the subseries alongside Final Fantasy XIII, forming the core of the series around which future titles would evolve. Nomura intended Versus XIII to be a heavy departure from his lighthearted Kingdom Hearts series. He attributed this move to his "love for extremes" and explained the direction he took as closer to his personal taste and completely different from what producers had requested him to do in the past. Early in development, Nomura said that the concept and thinking behind the game was unfitting for a regular numbered Final Fantasy installment, thus explaining its original status as a spin-off. His role as director of Versus XIII, in addition to other projects, was a move made following the departure of series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi from the company.
Nomura had created the concept for Versus XIII an unspecified time before production began in 2006. It was being developed by the Kingdom Hearts team as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. Nomura described Versus XIII as the dark side of XIII, emphasized by the game's title. In 2008, it was reported that development was put on hold so the team could complete Final Fantasy XIII. This was later clarified as a mistranslation, with the actual situation being that developers from the Versus XIII team were helping with XIII in their spare time, with development on both games going according to their original schedules. By June 2010, the game's story, and the character and clothing designs had been completed, though it was still in the pre-production phase in June 2011. Full production on Versus XIII began in September of that year, with a planned release in late 2014. According to later staff, Versus XIII was only 20-25% complete when the change of name and platform took place, with Tabata saying it "never really took shape". It was also stated by Tabata that the staff's efforts to fix issues with Versus XIII went on for too long. According to staff, when Tabata arrived the production team were "exhausted and fretful" following the project's collapse.
Due to its growing scale, talks about changing Versus XIII into the next numbered Final Fantasy were happening as early as 2007. When Type-0, originally titled Final Fantasy Agito XIII, was renamed, and the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were presented to Square Enix in 2011, it was decided to shift the game onto those consoles. For a time, a PlayStation 3 version continued development, but after a title change announcement could not be made in 2012, the shortening lifespan of the console caused concern. After some trial and error, the PlayStation 3 was abandoned as lead platform in favor of a DirectX 11-based structure allowing easy porting to next-generation systems. Another presumed reason for the shift was the game's protracted development and escalating budget. Versus XIII was rebranded as Final Fantasy XV, resuming development in this form in July 2012. A proposal to turn the game into a musical after Nomura watched the 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables was vetoed by the higher-ups at Square Enix.
At the beginning of development for Final Fantasy XV, the new team reviewed the content of Versus XIII and decided what could be sensibly carried over to the new project. While many design elements were retained, some needed to be changed or removed. Tabata's new position as co-director and eventually sole director was related to this change. The separate engine, gameplay, graphics and design sections of the team were merged into one unit to help with development. Nomura remained as co-director alongside Tabata so the project could remain as true to the original vision as possible, after which he was reassigned to other company projects including Kingdom Hearts III. Due to the state of Versus XIII during 2012, Square Enix's then-CEO Yoichi Wada was considering cancelling outright so the team could start from scratch under Tabata's direction. Most of Tabata's team were reluctant to merge with Nomura's team due to the negative reputation Versus XIII had within the company, with Tabata taking six months to bring them all round to the idea. Tabata officially became sole director in December 2013.