Yasumi Matsuno, head of the Square-Enix Fourth Development Team and Producer/Director of Final Fantasy XII has stepped down from his position with the game due to an ongoing health issue that he has been fighting with for some period of time now.

Square-Enix released the following statement regarding Matsuno-san and the future of FFXII: "Final Fantasy XII's development producer Yasumi Matsuno has left his position to recover from his illness, and he is currently working as a supervisor [on the game]. His roles in the project are being passed on to the section leaders, and our development staff is working hard on its production. The game is just one step away from completion, so please look forward to it. We are confident that we will deliver a Final Fantasy beyond everybody's imagination on March 16."

Matsuno will take on the less arduous role of Original Scenario/Plot Surpervisor. Replacing him as producer will be Akitoshi Kawazu, head of the long running SaGa series. Matsuno's directing role will be filled by two men, Hiroyuki Ito, who has worked on numerous final Fantasy titles as well as Chrono Trigger, and Hiroshi Minagawa, who worked on Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics.

Matsuno also released a personal statement, extending his apologies to the fans of FFXII: "To all the fans that have been waiting for the release of Final Fantasy XII, I'm sorry that its development has been taking an extremely long time. I unfortunately will have to take a step away from the production scene, but the game is progressing in its development under the hands of excellent staffs, including Minagawa, Ito, and Akiyama."

Final Fantasy XII will release in Japan on March 16th 2006. A US release is set for sometime in 2006. The staff at SquareInsider.com wish a speedy recovery to Matsuno-san and our best wishes to the him and the remaining staff of Final Fantasy XII.