Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda has released a statement regarding Final Fantasy XV, most notably stating that Tetsuya Nomura is no longer director of the long overdue title. He has been replaced by Hajime Tabata, director of Crisis Core & Before Crisis in the FFVII Compilation and FF:Type-0.

The statement, in full:

In reviewing our development structure, we have decided to assign Hajime Tabata as the new director for Final Fantasy XV. Currently, Tabata and the entire development team are working, whole-heartedly, towards completing the production of Final Fantasy XV and ensuring the delivery of the highest quality Final Fantasy title to date. We invite every one of our fans to view the fruits of our labor through Final Fantasy XV's demo, and promise to present a game that further surpasses expectations when the finished product is released.

As the director of Final Fantasy XV, Tetsuya Nomura has mainly worked on the original concept for the story and universe in addition to creating the characters. Hereafter, he will be focusing his efforts on the production of titles that can only be made possible by Nomura, himself, and delivering products that exceed the quality of past titles, starting with another one of his representative projects, Kingdom Hearts III. Square Enix will continue to work on these titles with the best staff formation in an effort to deliver them to everyone as soon as possible and appreciates your continued support.

Nomura will continue to work (and seemingly be fully focused) on the completion of Kingdom Hearts III.