Today I let the title screen run on for the first time and got the Stormblood opening movie complete with credits and all. I didn't notice the staff changes back when I finished 3.5 probably because I skipped the credits immediately to get on with it, since SB was coming out. Lol.
Some... really surprising changes.
- The Assistant Director roles are completely gone
- Minagawa is no longer Lead UI Designer, but is now the Art Director. FFXIV has not had this role since 2.0. Akihiko Yoshida was the art director for 1.0, but he was "lead artist" for 2.0, and subsequently off the team from 3.0 since he left S-E.
- The main scenario writers are now the world lore creator and a HW scenario writer.
This means... Hiroshi Takai, Mitsutoshi Gondai, Kazutoyo Maehiro are all off the game as leads now. For the 3.5 credits, all 3 were listed under "development supervision" instead. The last time FFXIV lost a major lead between expansions was Niinou leaving after 2.0, and he ended up directing Dragon Quest Builders.
Could this be an indication that part of the FFXIV team is now working on another new project?
Reminder: Takai and Maehiro previously worked together on The Last Remnant, which Takai directed and Maehiro was the lead designer.