Final Fantasy XV -The Dawn of the Future-

Final Fantasy XV -The Dawn of the Future- is an upcoming novel followup to Final Fantasy XV. The novel, written by Emi Nagashima based on a draft by the Final Fantasy XV development team, is set for release on April 24, 2018. An overseas release is also planned.

Characters

 * Noctis Lucis Caelum; Crown Prince of Lucis, chosen as the prophesied True King by the Astrals to save the world of Eos from darkness.
 * Lunafreya Nox Fleuret; The Oracle who communes with the Astrals and former princess of Tenebrae, bound to aid Noctis in completing his destiny.
 * Ardyn Izunia; Chancellor of Niflheim, and the main antagonist of Final Fantasy XV.
 * Aranea Highwind; A mercenary dragoon serving the empire of Niflheim under the rank of Commadore.

Origins and release
Following the release of Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis, the Final Fantasy XV development team decided to increase their initial plans for downloadable content, intending to create a new narrative for fans while tying up remaining loose ends with the game's lore. During this period, production was handled by Square Enix's new subsidiary Luminous Productions, which included the Final Fantasy XV development team.

The new DLC was revealed in April 2018 as The Dawn of the Future, a tetralogy of DLC episodes planned for release in early 2019. These were DLC campaigns that focused on the characters of Ardyn Izunia, Aranea Highwind, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret and Noctis Lucis Caelum. They would also create a new narrative where the characters defied their god-given fates and found a new solution which would negate the original sacrifice that closed off the narrative of Final Fantasy XV. Unfortunately, during this period Tabata's growing disinterest in the project-culminating in his departure in November 2018-and the decision by Luminous Productions to focus on an in-development new IP caused all DLC episodes but Episode Ardyn to be cancelled. The team were distressed by this outcome, and sought a means of telling the planned story through another medium.

The Dawn of the Future was re-announced as a novel alongside the release of the anime short Episode Ardyn - Prologue and the release date of Episode Ardyn. The novel was written by Emi Nagashima, a writer whose work with Square Enix included writing work on Final Fantasy XIII, and supplementary novels related to Final Fantasy XIII and the Drakengard series. An English version of the novel is in production.