Tanaka at Vana Fest 2010.

Big news today on the second day of the Final Fantasy XI Vana Fest 2012 event. Producer Hiromichi Tanaka revealed that he will be halting his work as producer on FFXI and leaving Square Enix. The move takes effect following the Vana Fest event.

Tanaka was one of the earliest members of Square, which he joined in 1983. He eventually headed up Square Enix's 3rd development division before becoming Corporate Executive of the company's online business.

As a game designer, he worked on such titles as Final Fantasy I, II and III, and also did battle design work on games like Xenogears and Chrono Cross. His work as producer included those latter two titles and Final Fantasy XI. Tanaka was also producer of FFXIV through December 2010.

Final Fantasy XIV battle planner Akihiko Matsui will take over for Tanaka in the FFXI producer spot. Matsui will also continue with his work on FFXIV.

Visit Famitsu.com for pics of Tanaka giving his parting words.