Final Fantasy XV Release Date News: Director 'Surprised' With Fans' Demand for Western Release

The high demand for the Western release of a "Final Fantasy" game in the PSP platform has reportedly taken "Final Fantasy XV" and "Final Fantasy Type-0 HD" director Hajime Tabata by surprise.

In a recent interview with IGN, Tabata said he did not expect the large amount of requests from fans. "I was very surprised by the level of demand. In a lot of ways, that's the reason we decided to do this HD remaster and release it outside of Japan," IGN quoted Tabata as telling Square Enix Community Manager Dan Seto.

Tabata emphasized the importance of fulfilling the fans' demands, saying he does not "think there's been any example where Square Enix has gone out and released a game purely on demand and the calls of the fans of the game. It was a very important thing."

Tabata also said that he prefers to work with the most powerful technology when asked if the type series will be released on a handheld device or on console. However, he did not name any specific platform.

"If we were going to do a type series as it were, it would be a good idea to do things in that series we couldn't do with the mainline Final Fantasy - the numbered series," the game director said. "It's a difficult decision, choosing whether you want to do portable or for home consoles, but at the moment, I'd say I'd want to try and do it on as high level spec as possible."

"My biggest desire at the moment -- if we were going to do that -- would be to do it on the top level, most cutting-edge technology we could."

"Final Fantasy Type-0 HD," a remastering of the hit 2011 PSP game and published and developed by Square Enix, is set in the "war-torn land of Orience," according to IGN.

Originally, the game was released only in Japan for the said platform. It is set to be released in both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platforms on March 17 and will be available in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. Players who buy the game will receive access to the "Final Fantasy XV" Episode Duscae demo.

The game has been rated M for Mature and was tagged with blood, drug reference, suggestive themes, and violence.

Meanwhile, the end of development for "Final Fantasy XV" is in sight, Tabata told IGN.