April 1 isn’t just the territory of pranks and jokes, but also the beginning of a brand new fiscal year, and Square Enix made the previously-announced restructuring of its business divisions effective.
On the company’s official website we learn a couple of interesting details. First of all, Naoki Hamaguchi has been promoted to Co-Director for the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Previously, Hamaguchi-san’s title was “Development Leader,” but now he is listed with the same role as Tetsuya Nomura.
His message mentions that the development workflow has been greatly overhauled with the shift to in-house development and the entrance into full-production, and development efficiency has improved, with production progressing smoothly. Yet, do keep in mind that is the same message that has been on the site for quite a while.
In the past he has worked as Project leader on Mobius Final Fantasy, Main programmer in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Lead Application Programmer in Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lead Event Programmer in Final Fantasy XIII, and Client Programmer in Final Fantasy XIV. He is also credited for the visual effects and real-time rendering in Final Fantasy XII.
Incidentally, Yoshinori Kitase retains his role as Producer.
On top of that, Business Division 5 led by Final Fantasy XIV Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida has been restructured into the “3rd Development Unit.” While Yoshida-san’s leadership is unchanged, we learn that the team has a next-generation game in the works. They have already finished initial development and are now shifting to full-scale production.
“Based on the former 5th Business Division, the newly launched 3rd Development Unit has launched a new core project following “Final Fantasy XIV,” and has begun to challenge the next generation. The initial development of this project has already ended, and the development environment has been established. We are now shifting to the full large-scale development phase.
The new project is looking for developers who will give the world something “interesting,” “fun,” and “surprising” together. We are looking forward to your application to challenge the worldwide market!”
At the moment, no further information has been provided about the nature of the game, but it’s certainly interesting.
Yoshida-san’s team is also currently working on the upcoming reveal of Final Fantasy XIV’s expansion “Shadowbringers” slated for a release on PS4 and PC on July 2 for PS4 and PC.
[Sources: Square Enix via DKHF, Square Enix via DKHF]
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