Final Fantasy XV was Originally Going to Be A Western-Produced Space Project

What is now known as Final Fantasy XV took ten whole years to develop, and it's finally going to launch this month, but what took it so long? Apparently, according to Dark Pixel Gaming, a completely different Final Fantasy project was supposed to take that title. Square Enix and Eidos were developing a game set in a surreal space universe, but that was cancelled, and the project that Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura started, formerly called Final Fantasy Versus XIII ultimately became Final Fantasy XV in 2012. Since then, director Hajime Tabata took over, the hierarchy of developers changed, and game evolved tremendously.

Watch the video:

The video  also brings up Tabata's problem with the "Final Fantasy sickness" or "FF byou." Tabata explained what that meant before: 

“It refers to people within the company who can’t imagine anything other than their own view of Final Fantasy. Since the root is a strong self-affirmation, one’s own view of Final Fantasy takes more priority than the team’s success. If that view of Final Fantasy isn’t fulfilled, then they’re convinced that it’s bad for Final Fantasy. They think, ‘Since Final Fantasy is a special team, then we are also special because we are making it. When the new Final Fantasy comes out, everybody is going to be so into it.’ But that’s not the reality of the situation, is it?”

Here's the description of the video: 

"The biggest thing I go over in this video would have to be Project W. This is the biggest kept secret that Square Enix and Eidos have. After Purchasing Eidos and cancelling the Final Fantasy XII spin-off game Fortress (being developed by Grin), Square Enix decided to start pre-production on a Western Final Fantasy. Not just western in the sense that it appeals to a western audience, but in the sense that a western company would be the one making it. A few other companies were brought on to help visualize the new universe like WETA, the geniuses behind the VFX in The Lord of The Rings. The project went along for a couple of years before Square Enix decided to pull the plug. This new Final Fantasy was going to take place mostly in Outer Space. Not quite the void of space that we imagine, though. This space was full of waves and clouds and shapes. It was an abstract yet beautiful take on a very different universe from our own. The game would center around classic airships that could sail through the vastness of space. It reminded me a bit of Rogue Galaxy, in some ways. I hope they pick up the project again one day! It seems like it was really going to be something else. They had sunk millions and millions of dollars on the project, but, I guess the first Western Developed Final Fantasy will have to wait, but I'm sure it's coming at some point in the future! My guess is that Eidos Montreal will still be the company that develops it, though the ideas are likely to change a lot from what Project W was (since Square Enix canned it and all). This all parallels what happened to Grin in 2009 when they made the Final Fantasy XII spin-off game Fortress. "

Final Fantasy XV will be available for Playstation 4 and Xbox One November 28. 

Related: Final Fantasy XV Director Affirms Patches to Fix Bugs