Square Enix has announced at a recent Final Fantasy XI event that Hiromichi Tanaka, who was Senior Vice President of Sofware Development at the company, has left and will no longer be working on either of their MMOs.

Tanaka had been at Square Enix since the beginning, working on Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II, before moving onto some of Square Enix's other properties, such as Mana, Seiken Densetsu, Xenogears and Chrono Cross.

Following on from this, Tanaka was a producer on Final Fantasy XI, before becoming the main voice for Final Fantasy XIV - a project which performed terribly upon its release.

The plight of Final Fantasy XIV was a huge black mark on Tanaka's career, with him being removed from the project entire, and placed back on Final Fantasy XI's team.

It's reported that health concerns were the main reason behind his decision to ultimately leave Square Enix. However, he also announced that he wanted to try his hand as an indie developer.