Final Fantasy VII Revelation closes out the remake trilogy, and its producer has given a hint about what Square Enix may do afterwards. In an interview with IGN, Yoshinori Kitase said new games come first. "I think that mainly we are more likely to invest in new titles and new games," he said, as quoted by Kotaku.
That isn't a door slamming on remakes, and it isn't an announcement either. Xarmo couldn't check the original IGN interview directly, so everything Kitase says here is as reported by Kotaku, GamesRadar+ and Push Square. None of the three describes a new project being revealed.
Why Final Fantasy VII was treated as a special case
The timing explains why the question came up. Kotaku says Revelation launches next January, ending a remake project that has run for a decade. So the natural question for Square Enix is whether that model gets applied elsewhere.
Kitase's answer, as GamesRadar+ reports it, is that Final Fantasy VII had particular conditions behind it. "There were me and other creators who worked on the original game, which we had really strong feelings towards," he said. He also pointed to the aim of opening an old game up to a new audience: "We really wanted to create something new related to the old game to allow new users to play and to know the appeal of this game as much as the old users who play the old game."
That reasoning leaves room for more. "So there might be different cases like this one where the company is willing to invest in remaking old projects and other kinds of games like it happened this time," he said, according to GamesRadar+. The outlet sums that up as Square Enix staying open to such projects on a case-by-case basis.
Final Fantasy VI comes up, with a shrug
The line fans will latch on to is about Final Fantasy VI. Push Square reports that Kitase said he doesn't personally "have any particular feeling towards any kind of remake" right now and doesn't believe he'll work on one "anytime soon". Then came the caveat: "Inside the company and also among the Final Fantasy fans, there's been many people asking for a remake of Final Fantasy VI, so who knows?"
That's the whole of it. Kitase describes people asking for a remake, not a project in development. Kotaku reads it the same way, saying remakes may not be in his future but could be for other developers at the company. GamesRadar+ writer Anthony McGlynn suspects a Final Fantasy XVII reveal is more likely to come first, which is his opinion, not something Kitase said.
Kitase also hinted at what he'd like to do himself. Push Square reports he'd like to lead something focused on "battle action", "without losing the characteristics of a Final Fantasy story". And he isn't only thinking about games. "I think that it would be nice to have in the future games or TV series inspired by the story of Final Fantasy," he said, as quoted by Kotaku, which notes an animated Final Fantasy IX adaptation fell through when its French production company went bankrupt.
What to watch
Revelation is still the next stop: Kotaku gives its launch as next January, and none of the three reports gives a confirmed title or release window for anything beyond it. The next real signal will have to come from Square Enix itself, not from an interview answer.
Mason's take: I read this less as a change of direction than as a producer lowering the temperature. A decade on one remake project is a long time, and it's fair for the people who lived it to want something else. The part I'd keep an eye on is the gap between his two answers: new games are where investment is more likely to go, but the demand for old ones hasn't gone anywhere. That tension probably outlives this interview.
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