Square Enix has provided a brief update on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on Twitter, confirming development on the game is progressing according to plan, implying it will make its originally announced ‘winter 2023/2024’ (Northern Hemisphere) release window.
Per confirmation from producer Yoshinori Kitase, ‘development is progressing smoothly and according to plan’ with Square Enix ‘currently working on nailing down a release date for the game’. Caution around an exact date is warranted, given late 2023 is currently home to a number of major blockbuster releases worth avoiding – including Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Starfield and Alan Wake 2.
There’s also the matter of Final Fantasy 16, which is due for release in June 2023. While excitement for this title is extremely high, it’s fair to say anticipation for Rebirth may eclipse it. Not only is this game charged by a sense of nostalgia for the original Final Fantasy 7, its predecessor, Remake, is considered one of the best games of 2020.
Giving both games the attention they deserve will likely be a priority for Square Enix – and both should rightfully be given time to breathe.
Read: Final Fantasy 16 preview: A complete rejuvenation of the series
In addition to revealing steady progress on Rebirth, Square Enix’s latest update has also revealed a few tidbits about what players can expect in future.
‘Players will be able to journey across the wide and multifaceted world with a high degree of freedom, experiencing a myriad of different stories along the way,’ Naoki Hamaguchi, game director of Rebirth wrote.
‘Players will witness a chain of narrative developments that lie at the very heart of the Final Fantasy 7 story while discovering each character’s destiny,’ Kazushige Nojima, story and scenario developer of Rebirth further confirmed.
Beyond these clues, we have very little to go off, as Square Enix has seemingly left these updates intentionally vague. At this stage, the game does not have a formal release date, so we can expect barebones details until Square Enix is ready to dive deeper.
For now, the studio is focusing on the upcoming and imminent release of Final Fantasy 16, which is due on 22 June 2023. We can expect new details about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth following this launch.
