Development of Final Fantasy XV

The development of Final Fantasy XV, a Japanese action role-playing video game, began in 2006 shortly before its announcement at that year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. Square Enix handled primary development on Final Fantasy XV, and the game was released worldwide in November 2016; the total development time covered approximately ten years. The game was originally announced as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a PlayStation 3-exclusive spin-off title. It was part of Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy, a subseries of games linked by a common mythos: while retaining thematic links, specific references were removed to aid with marketing. Additional media was created to portray the world of XV without using sequels; dubbed the "Final Fantasy XV Universe", it included a feature film, an original net animation, a virtual reality simulation game and multiple mobile projects.

The game was originally directed by Tetsuya Nomura, who also created the story concept and main character designs. Nomura wanted to create a darker Final Fantasy title unsuitable for the main series. The initial development went slowly, and by 2007 the scale of the project generated discussions about rebranding the game as the next main entry in the series. Production on Versus XIII ended in 2012, when it was rebranded as Final Fantasy XV and transferred over to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The PlayStation 3 version, which was originally built using the company's proprietary Crystal Tools game engine, was abandoned due to concerns about the platform's shortening life cycle. Its engine was changed to Luminous Studio, Square Enix's custom-built engine for eighth-generation gaming hardware.

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