Yoshinori Kitase Confirms Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Launches April 8, 2027

Square Enix company director Yoshinori Kitase confirms that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will launch on April 8, 2027, marking the definite conclusion of the remake trilogy while leaving the door wide open for future spin-offs.

The End of the Trilogy and the Open Door for Future Spin-Offs

When Final Fantasy 7 Revelation arrives on April 8, 2027, it will wrap up an enormous multi-part journey that has spent years unpacking Cloud Strife’s adventures. Assuming the final installment matches the runtime of its predecessors, players are looking at a grand total of at least 150 hours of remake content. Even after investing that much time into the overarching project, leadership at Square Enix is not quite ready to permanently shutter the wider universe.

In terms of the remake series with [Final Fantasy 7], we really wanted to feel like, and we really have put so much work into this to feel like we’ve done everything we possibly can to make this [newest] title have the best quality it possibly can have.

That perspective mirrors the approach Square Enix took nearly 30 years ago. Kitase explained to Malaysia-based games news site GamerBraves that the original 1997 release was intended to be a single, one-and-done experience.

When we created the original Final Fantasy VII, we really thought like, ‘Okay, we’re done now. We can move on.’

However, passionate fan enthusiasm quickly changed those plans, paving the way for years of related titles such as 2007’s Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and its eventual 2022 remaster, Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Reunion, as well as the animated film Advent Children. While Kitase maintains that Revelation represents the definitive end of the current series, he adds a notable caveat regarding the future, noting that fan reaction could influence what happens next.

Who knows what’s going to happen with fan reaction and how people come to enjoy this series and this finale.

Hands-On Preview: Freedom, Highwinds, and Fortnite Inspiration

A recent two-hour hands-on preview of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation demonstrated just how massive the upcoming game truly is. Square Enix dropped players straight into Chapter 4, granting total freedom to explore an open-world map from the skies aboard Cid’s airship, the Highwind. The party composition at this stage features Yuffie, Barrett, Nanaki, and newcomers Cid and Vincent.

During the session, players were able to revisit familiar locations from Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to see how time and the approaching meteor have altered the landscape. Director Naoki Hamaguchi explained that seismic shifts caused by the encroaching meteor have created distinct geographical differences in regions like the Grasslands. While the Grasslands previously served as a relatively tame starting zone filled with fodder enemies, the area is now populated by hulking, evil beasts alongside a dozen new side objectives.

Yuffie stands in a jungle in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation with her mouth open — Photo: gamesradar.com

While Rebirth featured 14 chapters and its predecessor Remake featured 18, Chapter 4 in Revelation arrives relatively early in the experience. The inclusion of the Highwind introduces a fresh verticality to exploration, allowing players to skydive and land wherever they wish across the world map. Interestingly, Hamaguchi revealed that this parachuting mechanic drew an unlikely inspiration from modern gaming trends. Because landing the original airship anywhere on a high-fidelity open world map was not a realistic option, the development team looked to titles like Fortnite to see how contemporary audiences respond to characters flying down using parachutes, creating a seamless transition from the air to the ground.

Balancing Scale and Preventing Bloat

The sheer volume of content in Revelation has raised questions about whether it will avoid the checklist-y feel and mandatory minigames that some players felt dragged down Rebirth. Although the game is doubling down on the sheer amount of activities available, the ability to drop in from the air wherever you want grants an extra layer of freedom, enabling players to zero in on specific objectives.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation: Second-Take Preview

Not every region relies on open parachuting, however. When visiting Yuffie’s hometown of Wutai for the first time, players encounter a fully realized city filled with tall buildings tailored specifically for a new traversal tool: the grapple gun.

Reflecting on the preview session and the complex blend of old and new elements, GamesRadar+ senior producer James Daly wrote in his preview:

I wonder how Naoki Hamaguchi and Square Enix so masterfully manage to weave nostalgia into something so obviously new in so many ways. Maybe I’ll never truly understand.