Tanaka resigns as 'FFXIV' producer

Final Fantasy XIV will undergo new leadership, it has been announced.

Hiromichi Tanaka has resigned from his post as producer of the game and will be replaced by Naoki Yoshida with immediate effect, but will remain on staff as an advisor.

Tanaka's departure is one of many sweeping changes announced for the management of the massively-multiplayer game, with staff from projects including Final Fantasy XI, X, IX and Vagrant Story joining the team.

"First of all, I would like to apologise for our inability to fully satisfy our users with the initial release of Final Fantasy XIV," said Tanaka in a statement to players.

"I take full responsibility for the game's current situation, and have therefore made the decision to step down from my role as producer."

Square Enix president Yoichi Wada said that he "regrets" that the game has failed to meet players' standards and has extended the free trial period once again.

"While more than two months have passed since the official launch of Final Fantasy XIV service, we deeply regret that the game has yet to achieve the level of enjoyability that Final Fantasy fans have come to expect from the franchise, and for this we offer our sincerest of apologies," he said.

"After thorough deliberation on how to meet those expectations, it was decided that the most viable step was to approach improvements under new leadership and with a restructured team. 

"We realise time is of the essence and are fully determined to provide our customers with quality service. It is because of this that we ask our customers to be patient until we are able to confidently present them with a concrete plan outlining Final Fantasy XIV's new direction."

Also announced was a delay to the PlayStation 3 version of the game for an undisclosed period.