Final Fantasy 15 Director Starts New Square Enix Studio

Hajime Tabata, director of Final Fantasy XV, has been put in charge of a new Square Enix development house. He'll serve as the studio head as well as the Chief Operating Officer of Luminous Productions, which Square says will develop AAA games and innovative game content.

The announcement (via Siliconera) also notes that the core team will be made up of staff from Final Fantasy XV as well. They'll be preparing an announcement regarding their new project for later this year. The official site is setting the tone for its new philosophy with a few slogans:

• "Imagine. Scheme. Obsess. Create. Iterate. Start over. Repeat. Repeat. Begin again."
• "Imagination has no limits. Boundaries can be pushed. An obsessive drive to turn ideas into reality."
• "The future of imagination begins here."

Final Fantasy XV was a record-breaker for Square Enix, marking the fastest start in the franchise. This was after a long and shaky history, having been announced as a spin-off for Final Fantasy XIII more than a decade ago. Most recently it was ported to PC with plenty of goofy cross-promotional tie-ins. Not everything that carries the name has been a breakout star, though. Its mobile spin-off is closing down this June.