Hang in there, Final Fantasy fans — Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 director Naoki Hamaguchi has popped up to assure us that the eagerly-anticipated third instalment is “proceeding on time and on schedule.”
This would possibly be more comforting if we knew what, exactly, the schedule was — Hamaguchi is playing his cards very close to his chest, and we haven’t yet received a release window, let alone a firm date — but talking to Comicbook, the director insisted everything was “steadily underway” and asked us to wait for “just a little longer.”
“What I can say is that development itself is proceeding on time and on schedule,” Hamaguchi said. “We believe it’ll become a title we can deliver with confidence as the culmination of the trilogy. We know many fans are eagerly waiting, and preparations toward the announcement are steadily underway. Please look forward to it just a little longer.”
Knowing Square Enix is making “preparations” for the release date announcement sure is good news, too, given how long we’ve waited. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was chopped up into three different instalments, with one releasing in 2020 and the second part in 2024. That means that even if Part 3 is released by the end of this year, there’ll have been six years between the release of Part 1 and Part 3.
The director also reflected on what has been the biggest challenge of bringing Final Fantasy 7 to modern audiences. “The greatest challenge was thoughtfully evaluating, title by title, how far to push ‘nostalgia’ and ‘innovation,’ respectively, so they could work in balance,” Hamaguchi explained.
“For players familiar with the original game, I think what matters goes beyond the story arc itself — it’s the relationships between the characters and the emotions they felt upon discovering this world. Those are elements we can’t afford to treat lightly.” He also stressed that the team’s “guiding philosophy” was to ensure the gameplay experience feels expanded rather than just recycled.
Interestingly, Hamaguchi also offered additional details of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s Queen’s Blood card game, which we knew was making a “powered-up” comeback for the final chapter in Square Enix’s remake trilogy.
“From the very beginning, Queen’s Blood wasn’t designed to be just a mini‑game, but rather a strong, standalone gameplay experience within the world of Rebirth,” he said. “As players progress through their open-world RPG journey, an early focus for us was finding ways to integrate immersive moments, even during shorter stretches of play. A trading card game was one answer to that, and we paid special attention to ensure that everything — including its strategic depth and interplay — didn’t feel half-baked.”
Last month, Hamaguchi opened up about what to expect when Part 3 eventually comes out, hinting that we’ll get new gameplay mechanics and locations, some of which we have yet to visit in the remake series.
The director also recently teased that the “core game experience is almost complete,” and while he “really want[s] everyone to play it as soon as possible,” the team has now moved on to “refining and polishing.” He also recently discussed the impact of expanding the platforms on which the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series is available, insisting that going multiplatform “will not in any way lower the quality of the third instalment.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
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