Square Enix officially announced the next chapter of the Final Fantasy VII remake saga Thursday evening during its Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary Celebration stream. The game is titled Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and it will launch as a PS5 exclusive “next winter.”
Remake ended on a major cliffhanger that set up for a lot more story ahead, and now we have a hint at what the next game might look like. In a brief trailer, Square Enix revealed some of the world outside of Midgar, as well as mysterious scenes of Cloud Strife walking alongside Sephiroth and an injured Cloud huddled against Crisis Core protagonist Zack Fair.
“Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is being designed so that people can enjoy this game whether they know the original game or not,” creative director Tetsuya Nomura said in a message shared on Twitter. “In fact, new players might even enjoy starting their Final Fantasy VII journey with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Cloud and his friends embark on a new journey in this game, and I believe that the scenes that they witness after leaving Midgar will give players a fresh, new experience.”
Square Enix also revealed that Rebirth is the second game in a planned trilogy — previously, it was unclear exactly how many games would comprise the remake story. “Some development has already begun on the third title,” Nomura said. “I myself have started on the development and am working towards the completion of the series.”
Final Fantasy VII Remake launched on PS4 in April 2020, and despite massive expectations, the game turned out to be quite good. For me, it was a lifeline during the early weeks of the pandemic — I took a lot of solace in exploring Midgar with Cloud and his companions — and last year, I had a blast playing through the PS5-optimized version and the Yuffie-focused DLC. Remake came to PC via the Epic Games Store in December, and Square Enix announced Thursday that it will be available on Steam tomorrow, June 17th.
Square Enix also announced a remake of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, titled Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion. That game will be available this winter on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.
