In a story that’s likely to become a bigger problem over the next year, it seems as if Square Enix has not decided on whether Final Fantasy VII Revelation will be a digital-only release or not.
This past weekend, fans gathered in Berlin for the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival, of which FF7 Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi was present. While he spoke on stage to fans about the future of the brand, including coming on stage with Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida to shoot down rumors of a Final Fantasy VI Remake, it seems the distant future wasn’t the only thing on his mind. In an interview with GamesRadar+, Hamaguchi expressed his interest in creating a physical edition for FF7 Revelation, but wasn’t sure if it would happen.
“We’re still having internal discussions on what the exact SKU product lineup is going to be for Revelation,” Hamaguchi said, “so I can’t say anything particularly definitive at this point in time. But I am working to make the arrangements to allow us to have some kind of physical edition.” Mentioning how customer shopping trends seem to be shifting digitally, Hamaguchi offered his own personal feelings on the matter. “Personally, here at something like Fan Fest or at community events for games that I’ve worked on,” he explained, “I really think that people bringing up things, asking for autographs – I think that’s lovely. I think it’s a wonderful culture and it would be a shame to lose that. I want that to remain.”
While acknowledging that digital might be the future, Hamaguchi stated that even if we lose proper discs or cartridges, “there will always be some kind of physical or packaged edition.” He brings up Nintendo’s controversial Game-Key Cards, and how publishers have sold code-in-a-box editions or even “boot” discs that simply launch a downloader. “I feel like there’ll always be something, and I hope there will be,” he said.
Elaborating further, Hamaguchi notes how with Nintendo, there are storage limitations with full game cards. He also details how platform specifications force publishers’ hands when it comes to physical editions. “Each platform and first-party have their own specific rules and regulations that we need to take into account,” he explained, “and think about what format is actually going to be best for the game. These are the discussions that we’re having at this point in time.” For instance, PlayStation 5 discs can hold up to 100 GB, but Xbox Series games only ship on standard 50 GB Blu-Rays due to “Smart Delivery” necessitating backward compatibility with Xbox One.
I would imagine that Final Fantasy VII Revelation will have some kind of physical version, even if it doesn’t happen at launch. For Nintendo Switch 2 users, it will be a Game-Key Card, but who knows what the other platforms will get?
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
