Gaming Square Enix Cracks AAA Trilogy Code in 10 Years With Final Fantasy VII Revelation While Rivals Burn Seven per Game Francesco De Meo • at EDT Add on Google With Final Fantasy VII Revelation, Square Enix is releasing a complete trilogy in the same timeframe rival studios release a single game Following its massive Summer Game Fest showcase, Final Fantasy VII Revelation is officially locked in for a Spring 2027 launch across PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S. While modern AAA games require six to seven years to launch, Square Enix is successfully delivering an entire massive trilogy featuring two open-world titles in roughly a single decade. Speaking in a new interview, director Naoki Hamaguchi revealed how Creative Studio I completely avoided the long development times that are damaging the momentum of many modern franchises. When asked by Restart.run regarding how the studio managed to outpace current industry development timelines, Hamaguchi-san pointed directly to a staff retention strategy that kept the identical creative team unified from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth straight into Final Fantasy VII Revelation: Related Story Nintendo Drops New Direct on June 9, As Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake Reveal Looms On The Horizon "That's definitely true, and I think that we were also trying to answer the fans' desires to have the next title come to them as soon as possible, and really enter the game and continue with the journey. But I think in terms of development, when we were working towards the end of Remake, we already had an idea of how to develop Rebirth, and then so on from Rebirth - toward the end of development of Rebirth, we kind of had an idea of how to approach Revelation. So in that sense, I think also having, kind of a constant alignment within the staff - and so the same staff, or most of the staff, also worked on Revelation from Rebirth as well, and so we were able to maintain that same type of flow, and I think that really helped development to create this in that span of time." By keeping the core developers between games, Square Enix effectively eliminated the onboarding challenges for new developers that significantly hamper modern AAA projects. However, staff retention is likely not the only reason Final Fantasy VII Revelation will launch a little over three years after its predecessor. Whereas many sequels attempt to reinvent the wheel - further lengthening development time - the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy is highly iterative. Development focuses on taking the core foundation of its predecessor and expanding upon it, as Revelation is set to do with the Highwind airship, without making unnecessary or overly complicated changes. This iterative approach is incredibly rare in modern game development. Currently, it is a philosophy most famously employed by SEGA's Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio in its Like a Dragon (Yakuza) series, which consistently sees the quick releases of new mainline and spin-off entries. Creative Studio I delivering a full trilogy in only 10 years is likely going to reshape the development pipeline for every other Square Enix series. Among them, the Kingdom Hearts franchise stands to benefit the most. Kingdom Hearts 4 will take roughly the same 10-year timeframe just to deliver a single sequel, proving that adopting this new pipeline is exactly what the series needs to prevent future entries in the series from taking this long. About the : Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band. Follow on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds. Deal of the Day Further Reading Square Enix Keeps Tifa’s Swimsuit In Final Fantasy VII Revelation, As Part 3 Postgame Promises To Be Most Challenging Yet Final Fantasy VII Revelation Hands Players Highwind Early, Unlocking Entire World With Breath of the Wild Freedom For Part 3 Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition Finally Arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 in August 2026, New Content is Paid DLC on Other Platforms No Rest for the Wicked Won’t Arrive on Xbox Alongside the PS5 Thanks to the Series S “Making That Rough” Read all on Square Enix Cracks AAA Trilogy Code in 10 Years With Final Fantasy VII Revelation While Rivals Burn Seven per Game