Yoshinori Kitase

It's fairly common knowledge that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth enjoyed a relatively smooth development cycle, owing to the fact that Final Fantasy 7 Remake's team was largely kept intact, and the first game had obviously laid the foundations in terms of visuals and gameplay systems. It took Square Enix around three years to craft Rebirth, and it expects the same kind of timeline when it comes to the third (and final) title in the trilogy.

Square Enix has announced that it “expects to recognize extraordinary losses” for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, attributing them as “content abandonment losses”. The Japanese company has, in other words, cancelled undisclosed projects, owing to which it will incur losses amounting to ¥22.1 billion (roughly $140.4 million).

The Tribeca Festival returns this June, and it will once again feature official games selections and even a game-focused panel. This year, the selections are all promising indie games, including a successor to 2021’s excellent Before Your Eyes. The show will also feature a talk on the making of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is reportedly underperforming commercially.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second part of the remake trilogy of the original game from 1997, was released in February. While developer Square Enix has not confirmed a launch date or the official title for the final game in the remake trilogy, the game should likely be released on PS5 sometime during the ongoing console generation cycle. Now, the studio has provided an update about the launch timeline for the third and final game in the Final Fantasy remake trilogy project.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth creative director Tetsuya Nomura has «completed» the story for the remake's final third instalment.

The recently released Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Ultimania confirms that the third game's story has already been written and that it could end up releasing in 2027.

It’s still difficult to wrap your head around how Square Enix managed to make a game as massive and diverse as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in the short amount of time that it did, and it looks like the company is hoping to do the same with the remake trilogy’s final instalment.

Though Square Enix has not publicly shared details about the next part of the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy, the development team has provided some new insight through the game's companion books.

Square Enix has given fans an update on the status of the third and final part of its Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy.

According to a new chat with Final Fantasy VII Remake producer Yoshinori Kitase, the third and final game in the new trilogy is aiming for a 2027 release date. This would keep a slightly quicker pace than the previous two titles in the series, with Final Fantasy VII Remake released in April 2020 and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth released on February 29, 2024.

Final Fantasy fans have a lot to unpack today, as the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Ultimania book has now launched in Japan, giving us more juicy details about the recent RPG as well as the next chapter in the Remake trilogy. Notably, we've gotten a little more indication as to how long we can expect to wait for Part 3, even if no release window has been confirmed yet.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth director and long-time series producer Yoshinori Kitase hopes that the world of the seventh entry in the series will continue after the remake project will be completed with the third entry.

A new Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth update fixes a bug that was making it impossible for some players to earn a Platinum Trophy, among other features.

Square Enix has released the soundtrack for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which features 175 tracks.

A bug currently making it impossible for players to get a Platinum Trophy in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will be fixed in the game’s next patch, Square Enix says.

Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix has appointed several new executive officers, including Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi.

Nobuo Uematsu has agreed to compose the main theme for the third game in the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy.

It’s been over a month since Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s launch, but the massive open world action RPG continues to occupy a sizeable portion of our headspace even now, thanks in no small part to how ambitious the game turned out to be, and how effectively Square Enix managed to make good on its vision in what was a relatively short development cycle. To shed some light on that process, the company has released a four-part behind-the-scenes series that details the development of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

Square Enix has released a four-party documentary series for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth titled “Inside Final Fantasy VII Rebirth,” which uncovers the stories behind the making of the RPG through the eyes of the development team.

Square Enix has released the first episode of “Inside Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, a behind the scenes of the making of the February 29-released action RPG sequel to Final Fantasy II Remake. The first episode is titled “Shaping the World.”

On top of announcing the release date for Final Fantasy 14's next expansion, Dawntrail, at PAX East over the weekend, producer Yoshi-P set Final Fantasy tongues wagging even further by mentioning the words "Final Fantasy 9" and "secret" in the same sentence. Many of the pre-order and special edition bonus items players can get with the upcoming Dawntrail expansion are suspiciously FF9-themed, you see, but when pointing this out to PAX-goers, Yoshi-P said "the reason is a secret" for now, sparking fresh rumours about Square Enix's supposed Final Fantasy IX remake/remaster.

Square Enix has released a new Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth update featuring graphical improvements and bug fixes.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi has said that further expansions of the card game Queen’s Blood are a possibility.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth producer Yoshinori Kitase says there would be crucial differences in the newly released sequel had it not been developed exclusively for PS5.

Sony has confirmed it's struck a deal with publisher Square Enix to make the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy a PlayStation console exclusive.

Don't expect any of the games in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series, including the recently-released Rebirth, to come to Xbox, as Sony has secured the trilogy as a PlayStation console exclusive.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake project trilogy will be console-exclusive to PlayStation, according to Sony Interactive Entertainment vice president of second- and third-party content ventures and strategic initiatives Christian Svensson.

There’s a lot to love about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and its open world setting is surely high on that list. On top of being massive and incredibly varied across its many different regions, the entire map is also entirely seamless, which means you’re never hit with a loading screen when traveling from one area to the next (unless, of course, you’re fast traveling). Interestingly, however, according to producer Yoshinori Kitase, the game’s open world design wouldn’t have been quite so impressive if it hadn’t been developed as a platform-exclusive title.

One of the original directors of Chrono Trigger, Yoshinori Kitase, asked fans about the best approach to bringing back or remaking the classic JRPG for a modern audience. First released for the SNES, 1995's Chrono Trigger was one of the most influential JRPGs of all time. It had a team of talented creators working on the game, including Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi from Square, Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame, and more. Chrono Trigger also had three directors, Yoshinori Kitase among them, who was the director of many critically acclaimed Final Fantasy games and continues to work at Square Enix to this day as a producer.

The producer of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has revealed that he had to stop playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom while working on the latest game in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. With Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth recently wrapping up development, the producer has been understandably too busy with his own game to see Link’s adventure to its conclusion.

The development team behind Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth didn’t always know when the game was going to end, and it could have left off at a different point in the original’s story. After almost four years, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has finally been released, continuing the story of Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Sephiroth, and the rest of the cast that fans know and love from the original Final Fantasy 7 and its many spin-offs. Just like Final Fantasy 7 Remake before it, FF7 Rebirth only retells a fraction of the 1997 PlayStation classic’s plot, picking up where its predecessor left off with Cloud and his friends escaping Midgar.

It’s finally here! Yes, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is finally here, and that means that gamers can FINALLY continue the story of Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barrett, Red XIII, and the new friends they’ll make along the way as they travel through the world of Gaia and attempt to stop Sephiroth! But before you go into your adventure, there is one last message you should hear. Specifically, the leads behind this incredible remake title came together for one last “thank you” and a statement about the game’s launch and what it means to them to have this game out amongst players finally.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director says the new action-RPG is reaching for a level that was never possible before today's technology, and that's just like the original 1997 game.

One of the most contentious elements of 2020's Final Fantasy 7 remake was the first seven hours of the original being stretched to a 40-plus hour game.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is finally here, the second part in a trilogy retelling the story of Square Enix's iconic '90s RPG. And it contains an equally as iconic moment at the Forgotten Capital - if you know, you know. That's where the game ends, using that pivotal moment to cap off the journey. But it wasn't always going to be that way. Originally, Rebirth would have continued past that certain someone's death.

Square Enix has published a Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launch trailer to coincide with the game’s release today.

Square Enix has released the launch trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second entry in the three-part Final Fantasy VII remake project following 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is finally launching tomorrow, which has given producer Yoshinori Kitase some time to catch up on his backlog, namely The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

A printing error with the physical Japanese release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth means the discs have the wrong labels on them.

In the video game industry, many people stick around with the company they’re attached to for quite a while for multiple reasons. They might just like the company they work at. Or, they might be trying to gain “higher ranks” there. Another reason might be they know that their talents or ideas might be more appreciated at that particular company because they’ve worked there for so long. But, on the other side of things, people sometimes depart gaming companies somewhat randomly, including because they want to “move on to a new challenge,” which is what the creator of Final Fantasy did after a while at Square before it became Square Enix.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth producer Yoshinori Kitase thinks the cast of «very appealing characters» is what made the game so popular.

In an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Naoki Hamaguchi, director of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, opened up about other Final Fantasy titles that he'd love to see remade. 

Final Fantasy brand manager Yoshinori Kitase has explained why he didn’t decide to leave Square Enix when his mentor and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi did.

After finishing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, we now know why Square Enix was so hesitant to embark on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project in the first place.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth currently has the second-highest Metacritic score of any game in the entire Final Fantasy series.

The developers behind the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth recently hinted at how far along the yet-untitled third game in the saga is, giving fans a clue as to when they can expect to see it. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is now just over a week away from release, with players already able to experience a small fraction of its story in a free demo that shows Cloud’s flashback to the fateful Nibelhiem incident that serves as the backdrop for much of the FF7 plotline. A second Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo is set to launch on February 21 that will let fans explore a condensed Junon region.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - the second part in the trilogy remaking the 1997 classic - is just around the corner, but the inevitable third and final entry is also chugging along at a steady pace.

Final Fantasy VIII was (until XIII rolled around) the most divisive entry in a series famous for changing things up, with oceans of ink spilt by the game's rabid detractors and stalwart defenders. Aside from stoic protagonist, Squall, and the way enemies levelled up alongside the party, players' most significant issue with the game was how it handled progression: the complex and quite vague Junction system.

Do you ever get the feeling that someone is HEAVILY IMPLYING something and they want to make sure you’re not missing the message? Well, the team over at Final Fantasy VII Rebirth seems to be doing that, and it’s going to make things interesting when the game finally arrives on PS5 later this month. Specifically, they’ve been teasing repeatedly that a certain key death that could happen once again in the upcoming title might not go how you’d expect. This was boosted by the game’s producer, Yoshinori Kitase, who, during an interview with Vandal, noted that he desired to give the game’s cast a “happy ending.”

Final Fantasy 8 turned 25 over the weekend, prompting many fans to renew their pleas for a remake. However, it looks like they're out of luck, as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, gives a firm "No" to the offer of spearheading another remake project.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's creative director, Tetsuya Nomura, has revealed that the first draft of the final game in the Remake trilogy's story has already been completed.

Final Fantasy 8 director, and series producer, Yoshinori Kitase has said he would change its combat system in a hypothetical remake.

Final Fantasy 6 director Yoshinori Kitase has said a remake akin to that of Final Fantasy 7's could take around 20 years to complete.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will feature an ambiguous ending that will keep players wondering about the third and final part of the trilogy, according to the game's producer.

Calls for a Final Fantasy 6 remake are difficult to respond to, the series’ brand manager has said, because he believes such a project would take roughly twice as long as it has to remake Final Fantasy 7.

Final Fantasy fans have been calling on Square Enix to remake the sixth game for years now, but FF7 Remake producer Yoshinori Kitase says a major roadblock preventing those dreams from coming true is its scope.

The second instalment of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is set to launch soon, but there are, of course, plenty of other fan-favourite instalments in the long-running series that many have been hoping to see remade in similar fashion. Final Fantasy 6 in particular has been heavily demanded by series fans- though according to Yoshinori Kitase – producer on the FF7 Remake trilogy and co-director of the original Final Fantasy 6 – developing a remake series for the SNES classic would be an even more herculean task than developing the FF7 Remake trilogy.

Square Enix has partnered with Fathom Events and Sony Pictures to bring the director's cut of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children to theaters for the first time. Premiering ahead of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s launch on February 29, the theatrical sequel to the original Final Fantasy VII will get its first run in U.S. theaters for just two days. 

Back in 1997, Final Fantasy VII established Sephiroth as one of the most iconic antagonists in gaming history. In 2020, Final Fantasy VII Remake greatly expanded his role in the first act of the beloved RPG, and in 2024, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth hopes to give us even more context for the One-Winged Angel. We played a portion of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and spoke with several members of the development team to learn how Sephiroth is depicted in the upcoming second act of the Remake trilogy.

Final Fantasy VII is full of iconic scenes. Whether you're talking about the well-known sequences already depicted in Remake or the upcoming gut-punch at the Forgotten Capital, the Remake trilogy allows fans to experience these moments in their most fully realized forms. While this middle portion of Final Fantasy VII, which Rebirth depicts, focuses on Aerith and the looming specter of Sephiroth, so much of Rebirth's depiction emphasizes the deepening of relationships.

Nothing has been decided regarding Final Fantasy XVII yet, but there's a very good chance it will be a very different game from its predecessor, judging from some recent statements.

When Final Fantasy X exploded onto the PlayStation 2 in 2001, it revolutionized not just the Final Fantasy series but the role-playing genre as a whole. The tuned-to-perfection turn-based combat, the beautiful soundtrack, the heartfelt story, and the eye-popping-for-the-time visuals created one of the most important entries of one of the most important franchises in video game history. However, one element was absent from Final Fantasy X that several of the key developers involved with the project lamented: an explorable world map.

The ground beneath Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura's feet trembled. In his time since serving as character designer and visual director on Final Fantasy VII, his legend has grown substantially. In addition to working on nearly every acclaimed Final Fantasy game since Nomura also helped create the Kingdom Hearts series and has become a figurehead and luminary within the stacked ranks of Square Enix's stable of developers. But this 2015 trip to Los Angeles, California, was different.

Final Fantasy VII Remake gave fans of the original game quite a shock as Cloud and the party exited Midgar. Zack, the protagonist of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and a key figure in Cloud, Aerith, and Sephiroth's past, appears to be alive, and helped an injured Cloud reach Midgar. This stands in stark contrast to his fate in the original continuity, where he was killed and his Buster Sword was handed over to Cloud. 

When Final Fantasy VII launched on PlayStation in 1997, it revolutionized the RPG genre and gaming as a whole. The transition from pixel art to fully animated computer graphics was a massive enough leap ahead, but the beauty of this classic title was much more than skin deep. Final Fantasy VII features an incredible cast of characters, an outstanding battle system, and a story that evokes joy, awe, anger, and grief. Final Fantasy VII is well-established as one of the most iconic and beloved video games of all time, but for Square Enix, the legacy is somewhat more important. 

Final Fantasy VII Remake zoomed in on the 1997 classic JRPG, making a complete game from the opening hours alone. The upcoming Rebirth will continue the trend, further fleshing out the latter's expansive middle section and giving characters like Sephiroth an appropriately upsized role.

There are spoilers ahead for Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is looking like its going to be a much more expansive game than its predecessor. Its main story alone is said to be around 40 hours long, while Square Enix says that with side content included, that can go up to over 100 hours. A lot of that is obviously going to be thanks to its vast, seamless open world setting, and speaking recently with Game Informer, the action RPG’s developers spoke a bit more about what that will bring to the table.

Unsurprisingly, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is going to continue to expand and recontextualize the original PS1 classic in more ways than one, from its seamless open world map to the content it will house to just how long the game will be. That, unsurprisingly, will mean added screentime and narrative content for a number of characters, among which fan-favourite villain Sephiroth will seemingly be one of the most prominent.

Final Fantasy 7 RebirthcreativedirectorTetsuya Nomura has revealed that there's one particular scene in the game that makes him want to cry. This article may contain spoilers for the original Final Fantasy 7.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth isn’t just remaking the classic game’s middle portion, it’s expanding every single aspect, including how much the iconic Sephiroth shows up in the world map.

Sephiroth looks a little different in , but that may be a good thing. As a reimagining of the original game, the trilogy makes a number of changes to its story, setting, and characters. Many of these are minor, like the gentle rearrangement of certain story events to make the plot flow better in a linear format. Others, however, are much more significant, adding a ton of depth to otherwise two-dimensional characters, and quite possibly changing other characters' fates entirely.

Zack Fair will have an "immensely important" role in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will feature a card-based deck-building minigame.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is resurrecting the series' staple world map for the first time since Final Fantasy 9, over 23 years ago.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake made it abundantly clear that Square Enix’s trilogy of FF7 remakes was going to have no qualms about deviating significantly from the original game’s storyline, but in the end, the trilogy is still going to link up with Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children, the animated CG movie set after the events of the original PS1 title.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is juggling an impossible number of balls. In one fell swoop it’s aiming to remake the original’s shattering second act, continue where its 2020 predecessor ended, and set up an inevitable third game. But to make the burden bearable, the game’s development team is turning to a classic Star Wars sequel for some inspiration: The Empire Strikes Back. 

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth isn't that far away now, as the developers behind the title have been dishing out more and more details to get us nice and pumped for its February 2024 release. We already know that the game will include some much-requested character customization options, and that someone is getting impaled at some point, but it's now been revealed that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will also feature a fancy new 'Dynamic' difficulty mode.