Hundreds of Final Fantasy VII Revelation Developers Did Not Know the Game's Title Before Its Reveal
- ⚡Xe⚡
- a few seconds ago
- 3 min read
Naoki Hamaguchi spoke with Bloomberg about the trilogy's development, discussing how the project reached its Spring 2027 release window, the unusually high staff retention across the trilogy, the secrecy surrounding Revelation's title, and his thoughts on what could come next after the remake project concludes.
Hamaguchi said planning for Revelation began roughly a year before Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launched. He described the overall production as one of the smoothest development cycles the team has experienced while working on the trilogy.
"I think our development timeline was incredibly smooth. I think the key takeaway for us as a team is that we were able to carry this unified vision as a team who worked on the three trilogy titles throughout the last ten years together."
One of the factors Hamaguchi highlighted was the continuity of the development team. Approximately 95% of developers from Rebirth remained on Revelation, allowing production to continue without the restructuring process that typically follows a major release at Square Enix.
"The big benefit of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series is that we never had to go through that process, so the transition was extremely quick."
Hamaguchi also suggested the experience could provide lessons for future projects within the company.
"I think it's something that we should be mindful of as a company, as we go into titles we work on in the future."
"Because this did bring out a really huge benefit in terms of speeding up and having an efficient development timeline."
The interview also revealed how tightly controlled information surrounding Revelation remained before its Summer Game Fest announcement. According to Hamaguchi, knowledge of the final title was limited to only a handful of people despite the size of the development team.
"For the title of this third and final installment, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, we went through a lot of hoops to make sure it didn’t get leaked beforehand. So when you look at the wider development team who worked tirelessly on the third and final installment of the remake series, there are actually only about four or five people who knew about the word ‘Revelation’ being in the title. There were hundreds of developers who found out about the full title at the same time as the general audience."
Hamaguchi also briefly commented on what may come after the completion of the remake trilogy. While he did not announce a specific project, he ruled out one possibility.
"It's not going to be a remake!"
He added that a smaller AA title, a new Final Fantasy entry, or an entirely new AAA franchise could all be potential directions for the team in the future.
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About FINAL FANTASY VII
First released in 1997 on the PlayStation® computer entertainment system, FINAL FANTASY VII will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2027. The game is universally regarded as a landmark title of the RPG genre. The original title received high praise for its epic storyline, unique characters, and movie sequences that utilized the most cutting-edge technology of the time. Since then, the game revolving around iconic hero Cloud Strife and his pursuit of the antagonist Sephiroth has sold over 15.7 million copies worldwide and continues to receive widespread acclaim from critics and fans around the world. The popular game has expanded into spin-offs, films and merchandise.
Now, Square Enix’s FINAL FANTASY VII Remake Series, created by a team of original and new developers, retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct games. The first game of the trilogy, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, is available for PS4® consoles. The expanded edition, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE, and the second entry, FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, are now available for Nintendo Switch 2, XBOX Series X|S, XBOX PC, PS5® consoles and PC. FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION, the climactic conclusion of the series, will release for PS5 consoles, Nintendo Switch 2, XBOX Series X|S and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store and XBOX PC, in Spring 2027.