"Tabata: The things we really wanted to include from release - but because of scheduling we couldn't - there were two of them really. The first was the off-road Regalia, and the free-driving section - that's something we really wanted in there, but unfortunately couldn't. The other thing was that transition into the second half of the game, into the linear section, we wanted to make that a lot more gradual and softer, rather than an abrupt change. Obviously the things we realised after release - that's something slightly different."
"The issues we became aware of, and were concerned about, after release - there's a certain way in the story was presented. Final Fantasy 15, it's not just the main game, there's a variety of other stories and content surrounding that, and I think it was a good idea to do that - it creates a lot of entry points where people can get into the game from - but on the other hand, the people who've only played the main game, there's a feeling that you're missing out on some important part of the story. And even in the main game, the core story of the world, the mythos, it's kind of sparse and missing stuff. That's something we could have done a bit more clearly."
It's an interesting one - I played it on day one, and I feel like I didn't play the complete thing. It's the first game I've played that's had a story patch. That's obviously not something you planned for.
Tabata: During development, we were working around the clock, putting everything we had into it and really killing ourselves to get the game made. It was a lot of effort - when we completed it and finished it, we felt like we'd put everything into it we could in the time we had, and it was the best result we could have made. When you look back on that, and think we had that limited time period, and our abilities were at a certain point - we were limited in what we could do. Now we've grown and developed as creators - we know how to do things a lot better. There's a feeling that if we do it now we'd be able to do it a lot better, which is why we've switched over to the service model. We want to continue to improve and add on to the game after release - that's the natural progression.
We made quite a lot of money off the game on day one - we made good profits off that - and we thought the best way to use that profit would be to thank the fans who'd played the game, to give back to them and use that to improve their experience. After doing a service model game, you learn a hell of a lot doing that, you realise certain things about games. It's been a rewarding experience doing it like that.
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How big is the active team still working on Final Fantasy 15?
Tabata: We've split them into several smaller teams - there's those wider expansions, different hardware and different projects. Overall the team is 100, 150 people. There are also outsourcing companies we use working on various projects - if you're talking about the internal staff count, it's probably just under 150.
At what point will you consider Final Fantasy 15 complete?
Hajime Tabata: We've come, ever since the release, together with our fans - so I think it's really about when we can satisfy them and when the game can end and have a proper conclusion to it. We've got a plan up until the end of this year, but looking at that that probably wouldn't satisfy the fans out there. They want more. So I'd like to continue making stuff for the game into next year, and consider what the best way to finish it is and have that big climax next year. So next year, we'll call the end of the journey!
