Sony plans on ending new physical disc production in 2028, meaning that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation should be safe. However, Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi recently shared that the decision on whether the third entry will get a physical release or not is still up in the air.
Talking to GamesRadar+ at the Final Fantasy 14 Berlin Fan Fest, Hamaguchi said that Square Enix is “still having internal discussions on what the exact SKU product lineup is going to be for Revelation, so I can’t say anything particularly definitive at this point in time.” Hamaguchi knows it is something fans want and so does he: “I am working to make the arrangements to allow us to have some kind of physical edition,” Hamaguchi said.
The director also shared a developer’s perspective on why physical media matters, using events like Fan Fest as an example. “I really think that people bringing up things, asking for autographs — I think that’s lovely,” Hamaguchi said. “I think it’s a wonderful culture, and it would be a shame to lose that.” Hamaguchi does admit that the industry is trending towards an all-digital future, despite what fans and developers may want.
Even if the industry shifts away from physical discs, Hamaguchi doesn’t think physical games will go away entirely. “Maybe you’ll have a box with the code inside it, or maybe key cards like Nintendo’s doing, or a boot disc or something,” the director hypothesized, “I feel like there’ll always be something, and I hope there will be.” Many physical game releases today are already just game codes within plastic cases. This trend may be nice for display or autographs, but it doesn’t address ownership and preservation.
The first two entries of the remake trilogy have both been released with true physical editions that included discs in the box. A special bundle of Remake and Rebirth was released for PlayStation 5 that came with three discs. So the series has a good track record thus far, but Hamaguchi’s comments don’t inspire complete confidence that the trilogy will be completed with a true physical release. Perhaps if Revelation itself does not get a disc, Square Enix may release a complete physical edition of the trilogy later.
“I do hope that we’ll be able to come up with something that is as close as possible as to what players and fans are going to want,” Hamaguchi said in closing, “but you’ll have to look forward to future announcements for that.”