Final Fantasy XV director, Hajime Tabata, has revealed the first project of his independent studios: Paralympics RPG, The Pegasus Dream Tour.
Tabata established his new studio, JP Games, at the end of last year after parting ways with Square Enix. “I started up my own company called JP Games, Inc,” Tabata said via a statement at the time.
In this “completely new sports role-playing game”, The Pegasus Dream Tour has you play the role of a para-athlete competing in a virtual, “dynamically rendered” Paralympic Games at Pegasus City.
“Ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, we are eager to explore innovative ways to engage with new and younger global audiences,” added Andrew Parsons, IPC President. “We believe this game will help boost interest in the Paralympic Games and make it easier for people all over the world to enjoy and experience the heated atmosphere, passion and excitement of the event.
“The sport at the Paralympics is outstanding and helps transform attitudes towards persons with disabilities like no other event. I am really excited to see and play this game and see how the outstanding abilities of Para-athletes are represented.”
“This is not just an ordinary video game about sports,” Habata said in a statement via the Paralympics website. “JP Games is going to represent fully the wonders that are unique to Paralympic sports in this brand-new role-playing game – a genre we excel in. With this video game, we want to contribute to the future growth of the Paralympic Games, not just as a sporting event, but as entertainment as well, with contents that we hope will have lasting value in the future.”
Expected to be “accessible on various platforms” – including mobile – The Pegasus Dream Tour should release in time for the Toyko Olympics and Paralympics in 2020.
Tabata and Square Enix parted ways in October when Square Enix’s financial results for the six-month period ending September 30th 2018 saw operating income plunge 61 per cent year-on-year to ¥10bn (£67.5m). Tabata’s in-house studio, Luminous Productions – which only launched in March last year – was thought partly responsible for this loss. The financial report resulted in Square Enix deciding to “undertake an in-depth review of the business strategy for a wholly-owned subsidiary Luminous Productions”, after which Final Fantasy XV’s upcoming DLC was cancelled, and Tabata resigned from both Square Enix and Luminous Productions.
“I was able to gain so much experience with my time at Square Enix. Every title I was able to be a part of means a lot to me,” Tabata said at the time. “However, Final Fantasy XV stood out from that group as it was a special project for me which I went all-in on.”
