It’s the end of the year and that means it’s time for the annual end of the year creator interviews with Japanese developers. Japanese publication Famitsu runs this special at the end of each year to get an idea of what their studio is up to and what we can expect from them in the coming 12 months. One of these was Square Enix in which Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase teased something interesting in regards to Final Fantasy VII, specifically the remake. Kitase stated that his key word for 2023 was “VII” and added that this will be his special word for “several years to come.”
Despite celebrating the title’s 25th Anniversary for 2022, it appears that Kitase is planning on creating more content not just in 2023, but well beyond as well. This will more than likely coincide with the remaining promotions for the anniversary, as we’ve already had three of the seven promised events. The most recent one was the official release of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, the reimagined prequel to Final Fantasy VII that originally released for the PSP in 2007. The promotions aren’t shown or stated on the Square Enix site either, so it’s just a matter of knowing and seeing whenever the company decides to enact one of these events.
2023 is already going to be a very busy year for the company, and this includes the Final Fantasy franchise. We already mentioned Final Fantasy VII, well that also includes next year when Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is supposedly launching. Rebirth is the second part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake project that began with 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, something that had been in the works for a very long time. Then there’s also Final Fantasy XVI, which is slated to launch on June 22, 2023, and is one of the most anticipated entries of the year.