The company that formed out of the Final Fantasy XV departing from Square Enix, Luminous Productions, has some news about their ongoing work on a new game, as confirmed in an interview with studio head Takeshi Aramaki.
This comes after the company was formed to pick up the slack on new goals that various developers and designers on Final Fantasy XV wanted to compensate for. And judging by their statements on this new effort, it looks like the goals they’re aiming for are quite high.
Although the fourth DLC pack, Episode Ardyn, did eventually come out, even though the other planned DLC content was cancelled. Hajime Tabata then went on to work on completely new projects after his departure from Square Enix. Luminous Productions is a subsidiary studio established by Square Enix though, so it’s very likely that the company will receive some support from the publisher on this new project.
And even though Hajime Tabata, the former studio head, resigned from Luminous Productions and Square Enix, the studio hasn’t slowed its work.
“To launch a new studio to do AAA-scale development for a global audience, and even a brand new IP at that – it’s not often that we get to take on a big challenge like this,” Aramaki explained, adding that the studio’s expertise lies in its technology and its art direction. “I’m confident that Luminous Productions’ technological capabilities can definitely hold their own against other studios around the world that also possess a high level of technological aptitude. We are one of the very few studios capable of creating a large-scale open-world title, in Japan or in the world.”
This project is apparently pretty huge in scale, and it’s looking to take the crown of massive open worlds from the likes of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. Luminous Productions has multiple projects in the pipeline, but the next-generation AAA game that’s described by that previous statement is at the top of the list. And according to the statements made, this new game will also involve an entirely new IP.
So whether this new project materializes, and more interestingly if it manages to usurp the big JRPG players, remains to be seen. Regardless, it will be very intriguing to see where this all goes.
