It looks like the Final Fantasy VII Remake probably isn’t getting here anytime soon. On top of the rumors that the game’s development was rebooted, a conversation between producer Yoshinori Kitase and development lead Naoki Hamaguchi that reportedly took place behind closed doors at the Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary celebration event revealed a guesstimated release window of 2023. And although Hamaguchi apparently finds this unacceptable, it sounds plausible in light of the recently rumored setbacks.
The transcript of the conversation was obtained by someone at the event, although Square Enix hasn’t officially commented or clarified if this is for all of the game’s proposed episodes or just the first release.
And while the series’ long-time composer Nobuo Uematsu previously said that he is not involved in the remake, a tweet by Twitter user aibo suggests that a Kitase interview confirmed him as part of the team, although it’s not clear in what capacity.
FF7R：インタビュー記事北瀬氏発言より、植松伸夫氏が「FF7リメイク」の音楽に関わられている事が判明（情報：当サイトコメ欄） pic.twitter.com/wnF0cehdBw
— aibo (@aibo_ac7) May 13, 2018
Visual effects director Shintaro Takai spoke on creating the game, and how he’s trying to use a new generation of developers to create a game that surpasses the original.
“Personally speaking, Final Fantasy VII Remake is a title that has a sense of generational change to it,” he said. “Those who grew up playing Final Fantasy VII are now developers of Final Fantasy VII Remake, and they’re gradually taking on more important roles. They are the ones I want to see give Final Fantasy VII a new shape.”
“This time around my role is looking over the art direction as a whole as well as deciding on bigger specifications, and my focus is to create a work environment that makes it easier for everyone, so I want to make it a field that allows the younger guys to be more active,” he continued. “I say younger but they’re mostly in their early-30s, and while they’re more aged than they were in the past, I believe they’re people with plenty of activity to offer.”