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duckroll · Jun 4, 2015

On today's FFXV Active Time Report stream, Tabata listed the full lead staff for the game. This is interesting because it is the first time we have a direct comparison with the ancient full lead staff list released for Versus XIII way back. It is now clearer than ever that when Kotaku reported that Versus XIII had been canned and was being re-purposed into FFXV, they were dead on. 100% accurate.

This was the Versus XIII staff list, I have bolded the names which no longer appear in FFXV:

Director/Game Design/Creative Design/Character Design/Concept: Tetsuya Nomura

Producer: Shinji Hashimoto, Yoshinori Kitase

Scenario: Kazushige Nojima

Music: Yoko Shimomura

Main Programmer: Hiroshi Harata, Kentaro Yasui

Planning Director: Yuichi Kanemori, Takayoishi Nakazato
Planning Director (World): Takeshi Endou
Planning Director (Event): Jun Akiyama

Graphic Director (Character Model): Tomohiro Kayano
Graphic Director (Animation): Tatsuya Kandou
Graphic Director (Map model): Masahide Tanaka
Graphic Director (Visual Effects): Shuichi Sato
Graphic Director (System Menu): Takeshi Arakawa

Art Director (Character): Tomohiro Hasewaga
Art Director (Map): Takayuki Otachi

Movie Director: Takeshi Nozue

This is the FFXV staff list released today, and I have bolded the names which are in the same roles without any change, while those whose names were in the original list but the roles have changed are in italics:

Director: Hajime Tabata

Concept/Main Character Design: Tetsuya Nomura
Character Design: Roberto Ferrari
Story Concept: Kazushige Nojima

Development Manager: Yasuaki Nasu

Movie Director: Takeshi Nozue

Art Director: Tomohiro Hasegawa, Yusuke Naora, Isamu Kamikokuryo

World Map Director: Yasuyuki Matsunami

3D Graphic Director: Akira Iwata

Lead Engineer: Takeshi Aramaki, Hiroshi Iwasaki

Game Designer: Masanori Sato, Masashi Takizawa, Kenichiro Yuji, Prasertvithyakarn Prasert

Lead Enemy Designer: Yuichi Kanemori, Takayuki Kanbayashi
Lead Level Designer: Takefumi Terada, Kunihiko Kimura
Lead Scenario Designer: Saori Itamuro

Lead Technical Artist: Seiji Nanase
Lead Event Artist: Toshiaki Hirota

Lead Technical Animator: Takaharu Aono
Lead 3DCG Animator: Kenichi Shida, Yusuke Tanaka

Lead Environment Artist: Norihito Ueno
Lead 3D Character Artist: Kazutaka Kurosaka
Lead VFX Artist: Keiichi Kurita

Composer: Yoko Shimomura

Producer: Shinji Hashimoto

I removed certain credits from the original Versus staff list - the image art, mechanical design, and clothing design, because those are contracted art positions which likely still part of the game but simply not represented in the FFXV list.

It's painfully obvious now more than ever that the majority of the development team has been completely overhauled, in pretty much every division of development. Not only is Nomura no longer directing the game, but Nojima isn't even writing the screenplay anymore. Jun Akiyama no longer seems involved (I had heard about this previously too ;_

, and the gameplay designers are completely different. RIP Versus XIII!

Abriael · Jun 4, 2015

And considering that the new team seems to be able to get things done, I welcome them more than ever. I really hold no emotional attachment to vaporware.

PS: Tabata mentioned that Roberto Ferrari worked on Versus XIII as well, and many of his designs are being carried over.

Nirolak · Jun 4, 2015

This kind of reminds me of Starbreeze, where basically everyone making Syndicate was replaced by the time it shipped.

Their commentary about not planning a sequel makes sense, since basically no one involved with this game was involved in coming up with the original idea.

Asd202 · Jun 4, 2015

Was wating for Duckroll thread about this

.

Kazerei · Jun 4, 2015

Kotaku pls

DarkLordMalik · Jun 4, 2015

duckroll said:
RIP Versus XIII!

And Welcome the new Final Fantasy XV, which is actually going to get released!

Hibiki Kurosawa · Jun 4, 2015

I have no idea what you italicized

but wow, the original vision is easily gone, I'd say.

Rush_Khan · Jun 4, 2015

So what are the canned Versus XIII staff working on now?

I'm disappointed they decided to scrap Versus XIII and not just change the name but it's probably a business decision. At least we know XV will have good music.

BY2K · Jun 4, 2015

So the name change meant nothing?

KuwabaraTheMan · Jun 4, 2015

Yeah, it's clear that this is a completely different game by this point, with a couple of character designs and Shimomura's music being the only real thing carrying over.

PurpleSquid · Jun 4, 2015

Im okay with this since we pretty much knew little to nothing about versus 13. I do wonder though if we'll ever get a FF game by numora. I know a lot of people dont like numora(well my friends dont at least) but I like him and his silly super busy designs. I hope one day he helms a ff game spin off or mainline from beginning to end

Ray Down · Jun 4, 2015

Rush_Khan said:
So what are the canned Versus XIII staff working on now?

I'm disappointed they decided to scrap Versus XIII and not just change the name but it's probably a business decision. At least we know XV will have good music.

Nomura moved to KH3 and probably brought some with him.

The other are clearly working with Nojima on the FF7 remake.

fvng · Jun 4, 2015

Nirolak said:
This kind of reminds me of Starbreeze, where basically everyone making Syndicate was replaced by the time it shipped.

Their commentary about not planning a sequel makes sense, since basically no one involved with this game was involved in coming up with the original idea.

Glad they squeezed out one more awesome game before they disbanded.

With regard to this thread, I'm so glad Kitase isn't working on this game

kerotan_eater · Jun 4, 2015

I'm just happy Nojima is on the project, when he's the main writer, the games seem to have pretty good stories.

Edit: Ooops I guess not.

CrimsonCrescendo · Jun 4, 2015

So do we know who is writing?

Patryn · Jun 4, 2015

BY2K said:
So the name change meant nothing?

Possibly damage control? It sounds better to say the game has changed title rather than say that you cancelled a game and salvaged a few concepts.

Jigolo · Jun 4, 2015

But Nomura makes the best games at SE so this is only bad news

TheGreatDirector · Jun 4, 2015

I'm guessing most of the staff was moved to another game then since it wouldn't make much sense to simply remove anyone now. Square is probably worried that they'll fall into the same trap they did last gen of only releasing one mainline single-player Final Fantasy title. Nomura was obviously moved to solely work on KH3 but the others could be working on another Final Fantasy title. Whether it's XVI or something else though is something we'll probably find out soon.

Obliterator · Jun 4, 2015

Yeah, whatever Versus XIII was XV is a totally different game at this point. I'm sure they kept some plot points and ideas but its basically its own thing from what Versus was going to be

Jo Shishido's Cheeks · Jun 4, 2015

Man were all those years of work just deemed unusable?
At what cost? Can't imagine budget figures will ever be released...

Asd202 · Jun 4, 2015

kerotan_eater said:
I'm just happy Nojima is on the project, when he's the main writer, the games seem to have pretty good stories.

Well about that...

-Horizon- · Jun 4, 2015

Wow that is a lot of people changed :0

Absoludacrous · Jun 4, 2015

Jigolo said:
But Nomura makes the best games at SE so this is only bad news

Depends on whether you prefer to actually play games or if you would rather dream of what they might be if they ever release.

ShinMaruku · Jun 4, 2015

Best change is the removal of Kitase.

threelights · Jun 4, 2015

CrimsonCrescendo said:
So do we know who is writing?

Itamuro. She worked on Dissidia, but not as a writer.

So we have nothing beyond the demo to know how good the writing will be...

And even then, there's the translation also changing the script, so yeah...

Kagari · Jun 4, 2015

TheGreatDirector said:
I'm guessing most of the staff was moved to another game then since it wouldn't make much sense to simply remove anyone now. Square is probably worried that they'll fall into the same trap they did last gen of only releasing one mainline single-player Final Fantasy title. Nomura was obviously moved to solely work on KH3 but the others could be working on another Final Fantasy title. Whether it's XVI or something else though is something we'll probably find out soon.

A lot of them quit.

Thabass · Jun 4, 2015

Good. It seemed like the old team could do everything except get the game out. This team will have a good shot at getting the game out.

It's like when Naoki Yoshida took over on Final Fantasy XIV and we all know how that's doing.

TheGreatDirector · Jun 4, 2015

Kagari said:
A lot of them quit.

Oh well that sucks :l

KoopaTheCasual · Jun 4, 2015

Pour one out for Jun Akiyama.

Without him on the project, my expectations are going way down for the delivery of this story through the in game scenes.

Deleted member 20920 · Jun 4, 2015

KoopaTheCasual said:
Pour one out for Jun Akiyama. Without him on the project, my expectations are going way down for the delivery of this story through the in game scenes.

I wonder whether he's still with SE.

Kagari said:
A lot of them quit.

I'm more upset about the lost of talent than XV basically being a new game with the skin and some bones of Versus.

orthodoxy1095 · Jun 4, 2015

Kagari said:
A lot of them quit.

Wat. Why.

Nirolak · Jun 4, 2015

fvng said:
Glad they squeezed out one more awesome game before they disbanded.

With regard to this thread, I'm so glad Kitase isn't working on this game

Starbreeze is still around. They bought Overkill who makes Payday. They're working on Storm and a Walking Dead game.

The old Starbreeze is making Wolfenstein, and the Brothers team is making a new game at EA.

Aureon · Jun 4, 2015

Ha, Roberto Ferrari. He was the teacher of my best friend at drawing academy.
Kind of proud that the only western guy in the lead staff is him.

Also: Isn't it pretty normal to have staff changes.. OVER TEN YEARS?

Escalario · Jun 4, 2015

Hmmmmm. Almost everything related to the development of FFXV (and let's not even start on VSXIII) seem to have gotten worse one way or another.
The demo really soured me on the gameplay part of the game (it feels to play much worse than what we saw from VSXIII), and Noctis being the only playable characters makes it really boring. I was hyped for it a year ago, and with the last few news it went to a "meh, maybe I'll get it during a sale" territory.
With the last few Tales of being duds, Star Ocean 5 looking to be based more on SO4 than other entries in the series (hopefully E3 trailer will prove me wrong), it really makes me sad for the state of Action JRPGs on home consoles

duckroll · Jun 4, 2015

orthodoxy1095 said:
Wat. Why.

Because it has been 9 years since Versus XIII was announced? That's a long time. They didn't just up and quit at the same time over some disagreement I think, just staff leaving over the years because they're either stuck on a project going nowhere or have better opportunities out there in the industry.

Stereogatari · Jun 4, 2015

So is it going to be worse off?

DarkLordMalik · Jun 4, 2015

orthodoxy1095 said:
Wat. Why.

They knew the game was never coming out.

It never did anyways

Peltz · Jun 4, 2015

Rush_Khan said:
So what are the canned Versus XIII staff working on now?

The Last Guardian?

Soriku · Jun 4, 2015

Escalario said:
With the last few Tales of being duds, Star Ocean 5 looking to be based more on SO4 than other entries in the series (hopefully E3 trailer will prove me wrong), it really makes me sad for the state of Action JRPGs on home consoles

They already said SO5 would be similar to SO3.

Deleted member 20920 · Jun 4, 2015

Stereogatari said:
So is it going to be worse off?

No one knows.

I mean between having a game stuck in dev hell and eventually releasing the game, I would rather they have staff changes, release the game and be done with it. Everyone needs to move on.

I wonder what XVI is going to be like though.

Laconic · Jun 4, 2015

Honestly, the less XIII that is in any future FF, the better.

Dark_castle · Jun 4, 2015

I wonder who is the current event director, if it's not Jun Akiyama.

Among the new staff for XV, is Masanori Sato the same Masanori Sato as this?

Tried googling Masashi Takizawa, Takeshi Terada, Kunihiko Kimura, no relevant result. Hate it when this happens.

ViciousDS · Jun 4, 2015

Ray Down said:
Nomura moved to KH3 and probably brought some with him.

The other are clearly working with Nojima on the FF7 remake.

so this means kingdom hearts 3 is never going to be released and 8 years from now be labeled as kingdom hearts versus 3!

son of a bitch!

orthodoxy1095 · Jun 4, 2015

duckroll said:
Because it has been 9 years since Versus XIII was announced? That's a long time. They didn't just up and quit at the same time over some disagreement I think, just staff leaving over the years because they're either stuck on a project going nowhere or have better opportunities out there in the industry.

Alright, I was concerned there was some mass exodus. If it was just natural progression, that's perfectly understandable.

Escalario · Jun 4, 2015

Soriku said:
They already said SO5 would be similar to SO3.

Really? Then that's great news for me

Now I'm actually hyped for something that will be shown during SE's E3 conference.

DangerMouse · Jun 4, 2015

ViciousDS said:
so this means kingdom hearts 3 is never going to be released and 8 years from now be labeled as kingdom hearts versus 3!

son of a bitch!

Nah. Only if S-E steals his team every five minutes.

Nirolak · Jun 4, 2015

orthodoxy1095 said:
Alright, I was concerned there was some mass exodus. If it was just natural progression, that's perfectly understandable.

It's been happening for a variety of their staff.

For example Legend of Legacy exists due to a lot of SaGa staff leaving over the years.

They stopped making mid-tier games for quite a while, so if you weren't happy on either mobile or very long development mega titles, leaving was the best option.

That said, several of them actually ended up in mobile as well.

They seem to be doing more mid-sized projects again, but largely through contracting external developers.

Empyrean Heaven · Jun 4, 2015

Holy shit, Nojima's doing the story? Maybe this will be a game deserving of joining the Nomura Trilogy (VII, VIII and X)

Square2015 · Jun 4, 2015

Wait, why are people already talking about XVI, did I miss something? (not complaining just excited its not discussion of XV-2 etc.)

1st Course · Jun 4, 2015

fvng said:
Glad they squeezed out one more awesome game before they disbanded.

With regard to this thread, I'm so glad Kitase isn't working on this game

This. As long as no one from FFXIII team is heavily involved, this game should turn out fine I think. Beside, what they have been showing recently seems very promising and the demo gathered lots of positive impressions. Really seems like they are going to actually deliver this time.

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Comparison between FF Versus XIII staff and FF XV staff [Kotaku was right!!!]

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