On the subject of bringing back many of Rebirth’s zones for the world in Revelation while still ensuring that the upcoming game feels meaningfully different, Hamaguchi noted that the team’s focus “was on the open world aspect of the game. So, we wanted to introduce a lot of large, vast areas that offered the horizontal width in terms of how big the area is going to look like. With FF7 Revelation, we want to take it a step above. So, in addition to the horizontal width, we’re now adding a vertical depth that allows players to explore using the Highwind or the Chocobo. So, both of these modes of transportation allow you to fly and jump high in the air and things like that. So, it does give you a more expanded feel of how the open world is going to look like in the world of the FF7 Remake series.”

The team’s thought process in how it could expand the world for Revelation ultimately came down to wanting to make sure that each entry in the trilogy also represents an escalation in terms of how much players can explore.

“So, from Remake to Rebirth and from Rebirth to Revelation, we wanted to take a step above. So, from the evolution from going from Rebirth and then heading into Revelation was that, again, ‘How can we expand the open world?’ And the way we achieved that is to achieve this planetary exploration, the open-world map scale where players can just really just explore the entire planet using the Highwind. So, taking on that challenge was one of the rather difficult parts of the development for sure.”

Interestingly, wanting the characters to be able to jump off the Highwind with parachutes was an idea that the team came up with early during Revelation’s development. The reason behind this is that, unlike the original Final Fantasy 7, the high-fidelity open world of Revelation wouldn’t be able to guarantee landing spots for the Highwind.

“So, we needed designed surfaces where it would make sense for the Highwind to be able to smoothly land, if that makes sense. But that wasn’t really realistic for us to consider. So that’s why we had this parachuting idea.” This also gave the team a chance to “introduce a seamless transition from the air to the ground. And I think the end result turned out well for us.”

Hamaguchi had previously spoken about how, despite having a massive world to explore in Revelation, the team wanted to avoid open-world fatigue among players. This led to the game featuring enough guidance that would make sure that players didn’t get lost.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

“In terms of Square Enix and 2027, our President, Takashi Kiryu, says that next year is the big fight back for us, where everything turns around. And obviously, between Final Fantasy 7 Revelation and Kingdom Hearts 4, those are massive titles that are going to push that. And both are being developed in my own studio, Creative Studio 1. So yeah, I’m really pumped up now for that. That’s really all on my watch now, so I’m going to be the guy who’s pushing all that forward.”

When asked about whether the Kingdom Hearts animated series for Disney+ could potentially lead to Square Enix working on more adaptations, Hamaguchi noted that the company is constantly on the lookout for which of its IPs can successfully make the transition. Whether this means that we’re getting an adaptation of Final Fantasy 7 anytime soon, however, remains to be seen.

“But in terms of adaptations, even a live-action adaptation or an animated adaptation, we’re always thinking that these properties, things like, again, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy 7 … not just Final Fantasy 7, even just Remake. Across all of the Final Fantasy properties and IPs, we’re always looking for the best way to bring them to the audience and for opportunities like this with them. So yeah, it’s definitely a possibility. We want to be very proactive in looking into opportunities like that.”

Both Kingdom Hearts 4 and Final Fantasy 7 Revelation are being developed for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. While the former doesn’t quite have a solid release date aside from a 2027 launch window, the latter is confirmed to be coming out on April 8th.

Earlier this week, Hamaguchi had also spoken about how the team decided on the name Revelation for the third part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, and confirmed that, despite the concept of “resolve” playing a major role in the game’s core themes, it was never really considered for the title itself. Interestingly, he noted that the team used the Japanese word for “resolve” – “ketsui” – and that he only learned that it translated to “resolve” in English closer to the game’s official unveiling earlier this year.

“I can talk more about how we ended up with the title Revelation. So, way before this whole Resolve discussion that we had, we did decide to go with the title Revelation, but even before we made that decision, there were actually three final contenders, and I had a discussion with the creative director of the series, Tetsuya Nomura.”

As for Kingdom Hearts 4, the title recently got a trailer confirming that one of its Disney worlds will be the Land of the Dead from Coco. More details about it will be revealed as we get closer to its release.

“I’m pretty sure that Revelation has at least the same, and probably actually even more content in it than Rebirth had. But it’s all good content. It’s all going to be really appealing to play.”

Of course, having so much content may not always be ideal for players, especially those who want to focus on the story without any distractions. Hamaguchi is aware of this, noting, “There are a number of players of [Rebirth] who said that the content was just too much and that they felt they were overwhelmed by it. I do understand there are people out there who felt that.”

But that hasn’t motivated the team to cut down on the amount of content that Revelation will offer. In fact, he feels, “Having that huge amount of content is part of what makes the game so appealing. I don’t think it’s that kind of game, so I’m very confident in what it is because of that.”

That may be one reason why the team didn’t opt for a multi-disc approach with the physical release, instead offering a single disc with a mandatory download on Xbox Series X/S and PS5. Hamaguchi and the team sought no compromises with the title, and this is apparently one step to making that happen.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation launches on April 8th, 2027, for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. And for those who can’t get enough of the base game, two paid expansions will be available after launch. The first focuses on Sephiroth; the second is about Vincent Valentine and the Turks. Both are scheduled to launch between Winter 2027 and Spring 2028, so stay tuned for official release dates.

Interestingly, he noted that “Resolve” wasn’t one of the potential titles that the team was considering before it settled on Revelation. The reason behind this came down to the fact that while the team used the term resolve during development, it used the Japanese word for it – Ketsui – which Hamaguchi noted doesn’t have the “re” sound that would make it fall in line with Remake and Rebirth.

“And then when we were making plans for our first major reveal at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, I actually wrote a script for myself on stage, and I did want to use the term for ketsui, resolve. So, when I was looking at the English equivalent of that, I found out that resolve actually started with RE, so I thought, ‘Oh, this is actually a perfect fit!’”

“I can talk more about how we ended up with the title Revelation. So, way before this whole Resolve discussion that we had, we did decide to go with the title Revelation, but even before we made that decision, there were actually three final contenders, and I had a discussion with the creative director of the series, Tetsuya Nomura.”

Hamaguchi also confirmed that there were two other “contenders” for the title of the game aside from Revelation. “I might share it sometime in the future, but I don’t think now is the right time for us to share it because the game isn’t out yet,” he said. “If we do share the other two contenders, I don’t want people to be like, ‘Oh, the other one was better than Revelation.’ And it feels like it’s going to create some unnecessary discussion and debates online. So, I feel like now’s not the right time.”

“Maybe sometime down the line we might be able to revisit this discussion again and share what the title could have been. But I will say that when I discussed with the North American Square Enix team, I did share the other two options that we had as the final contenders, and we unanimously agreed that Revelation was the best choice. So, I think we made the right decision on that.”

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 8th. Hamaguchi has confirmed that, while the physical release will include a disc in the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions, players will still need to download some files. He noted that this was to ensure that no compromises were made in terms of the quality and fidelity of the game. This indicates that the third entry in the trilogy will likely end up being larger than Rebirth.

Contrast that to its predecessors, which were perfectly playable offline, even if Rebirth shipped on multiple Blu-ray discs. However, the decision has less to do with cutting costs and more with not compromising on the game’s quality, per director Naoki Hamaguchi.

“First and foremost, personally, I’m very happy that we are able to release a physical disc version of FF7 Revelation considering how the entire gaming market, or the landscape, is veering towards the disc-less direction,” Hamaguchi told IGN in a new interview.

“And after we launched preorders, we did see some fans voicing their concerns and raising questions about the physical discs requiring some internet download. So I would like to address that.

“When we had an internal discussion with the development team about how we wanted to approach the physical discs and the physical releases of FF7 Revelation, initially there were conversations about using the same disc size as we did for, say, FF7 Rebirth,” he continued. “But if we were to do that, it would mean that we would have to make a compromise in terms of the fidelity and the quality of the game.”

“So as a development team, we didn’t want to do that. We didn’t want to make any compromises for the game. So realistically, the only choice that we had was to release this physical disc, but with certain sections of the game being a digital download format through the physical disc.”

You could argue this is to curtail spoilers, especially in this day and age where physical games breaking street date is all too common. However, it may also be a testament to the sheer size of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. If the development team’s only recourse was to ship it on even more discs, which wouldn’t have made sense from a logistics perspective, then how much bigger is it than Rebirth?

Time will tell, but since this is the finale, Hamaguchi may feel this is the only way to properly convey the sheer scale and quality the team is aiming for. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation launches on April 8th, 2027, for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 – check out the latest trailer here.

Of course, the announcement of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion was another highlight, as was the reveal that it releases today! That’s a nice little side story that should give you a better look at  Sephiroth’s motivations in the run-up to the story’s epic conclusion and the showdown we’ve all been waiting for for a very long time. Of course, this one is a port of the remaster, so expect the improved visuals to pop on your Switch 2.

All in all, this is a good time to be a Final Fantasy fan, what with Resonance being an attractive option that’s also getting thrown into the mix. We can’t wait to get started with all of it, but April 8, 2027, is still a while away before Revelation becomes playable.

Hailing from Final Fantasy 8, he’s an introverted master of the blade who excelled at this art to the exclusion of everything else. It’s no surprise that he’s more than happy to dive into the fray, hitting multiple enemies at once with graceful swings that showcase his absolute mastery. The best warriors often make the art of using their blade look very stylish, and Squall does that with aplomb. His agility might belie his strength, though, as he can imbue his blade with the fury of nature, slamming it down to raise the very ground that his foes stand on and turn it into a potent crowd-controlling ability.

He’s going to be a great target for any opponents, while Lightning, Noctis, and the Warrior of Light aid him to keep evil at bay. They’ll need all the help they can get against Sephiroth, who could give many of them a run for their money based on that glimpse we got earlier this month. You can check out Squall in action below ahead of the game’s October 22nd launch.

Neither of the companies has made any statement regarding their participation in the disc-to-digital program on Xbox. However, since the program is still in its testing phase, it is also possible that both companies might join in once it is fully released to the general public, and have simply opted out during the testing phase to see how it plays out.

Microsoft had kicked off Insider testing for the disc-to-digital program for Alpha Skip, Alpha, and Beta channels earlier this month, and noted in its FAQs that users might be required to keep access to the physical copies of their games to provide evidence that they still qualify for the digital license.

“A disc-to-digital license is associated with the qualifying game disc. To maintain access to certain disc-to-digital licensing benefits, you may be required to demonstrate continued possession of the qualifying disc. For example, if you lose, sell, give away, or otherwise no longer possess a qualifying disc, access to associated disc-to-digital licenses may be limited or revoked.”

To help players keep track of which games are available through the disc-to-digital program, community-based efforts have been kicked off, with the stat-tracking website Xbox Collection Tracker having an entire page dedicated to keeping track of which games are supported.

Microsoft has also noted that discs will continue to work just fine even after they are used to get a digital license through the program. This means that players can potentially share physical copies of their Xbox One and Xbox Series X games with their friends and continue playing through their own digital license.

It is also worth noting that, at least for now, the disc-to-digital program doesn’t support Xbox and Xbox 360 games. However, considering the company’s emphasis on backwards compatibility over the last few years, support for older console games is likely just a matter of time.

There have been quite a few conversations happening in recent times on the subject of physical versus digital, especially thanks to Sony’s announcement that it would be ending production of new PlayStation discs in 2028. While Microsoft hasn’t made any such announcement itself, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma had spoken about wanting to offer a choice to its users.

“I know players love physical media, and I know there are a lot of benefits in digital media, and I want to make sure people have a choice. There are stacks of games on everybody’s shelves. We’re announcing the ability for players for 1,000 titles with physical discs to be able to have a digital entitlement. We’ve long pioneered backwards compatibility, and so you’ll continue to see that as we go forward in the generations.”

But what’s even more interesting (as reported by Genki_JPN on Twitter) is how Revelation’s equivalent of the Job system was originally handled. There are four FITS, and each character would have had to unlock them separately as rewards or milestones throughout the story. However, Endo was against; instead, the entire party will have access to all FITS within the first five to six hours.

“Endo-san was like ‘No, we got to have everything accessible from the beginning.’ He was adamant about that,” said Haamguchi.

It’s an approach that encourages “greater freedom than ever before,” per one of the slides at the panel. If that wasn’t enough, Hamaguchi also announced a transmog feature that separates a character’s look and FITS. And while that’s good news for those who want Cloud to have his standard look even as a Knight, you can discover more skins by completing side content. Some are apparently “quirky and funny,” as Genki_JPN noted on Twitter. Moogle onesies for all? Time will tell.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation launches on April 8th, 2027, for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. It’s playable at Tokyo Game Show next week, so stay tuned for more gameplay and impressions.

According to GamesRadar, he spoke about how the Remake trilogy was “an effort to pass Final Fantasy 7 onto the next generation,” and how “We want to make this a work that creates new fans 20 or even 30 years from now.” Accompanying Hamaguchi’s statement was a slideshow that mentioned that the team’s goals were to “expand FF7’s future” and “move beyond being a classic of the past and shape it into an IP with an ever-evolving future.”

What this means for Final Fantasy 7 going forward remains to be seen. However, judging by how Square Enix continued to expand on the original 1997 release with prequels, sequels, spin-offs, and even cross-media properties like the film Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children, the company is certainly no stranger to milking its IP. For now, however, the team is likely busy with wrapping up development on Final Fantasy 7 Revelation and content for its Story Expansion Pass.

The planned story DLCs for the upcoming title will involve “untold stories” for two characters. The first story DLC is slated to focus on Sephiroth, while the second one will seemingly revolve around Vincent and the Turks. The two DLCs are planned for release between Winter 2027 and Spring 2028.

Interestingly, Hamaguchi had previously spoken about wanting to incorporate stories from various Final Fantasy 7 projects over the years in Revelation. Answering a question about Cissnei’s potential return back in June, he said that the Remake trilogy “is not simply a recreation of the original work.”

“But rather, our goal is to create a single, new Final Fantasy 7 that incorporates the settings and concepts of all the previous spin-off titles, such as Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, and Crisis Core. Therefore, the appearance of Cissnei and the inclusion of Dirge of Cerberus Soldiers in the DLC, all have that meaning.”

“So, since that concept will of course carry over into Revelation as well, not limited to Cissnei, for the last entry, there will be characters that have appeared in the various FF7 compilation games that I think will be there, and each of these characters has a large and dedicated fanbase, so we want to create a work that can satisfy the feelings of those people.”

He reaffirmed this idea just last month, noting that the team is “looking towards the ending” after taking all of the spin-offs and sequels into account. “And then the question is, what kind of ending are we going to head for in Revelation that still has those ties? And I think that’s something that I really hope players will look forward to finding out.”

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is being developed for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.