Final Fantasy VII Revelation was built in three years because 95% of the team stayed
The TL;DR
FF7 Revelation took 3 years compared to the usual 5+ because 95% of the team is left from Rebirth. Square Enix’s most efficient circuit.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the conclusion of the remake trilogy, will launch in the spring of 2027. That’s just three years after the second game, Rebirth. By modern AAA standards, where five years or more is the norm, that’s fast.
Director Naoki Hamaguchi told Bloomberg the reason is simple: 95% of the development team has stayed together since Rebirth. “The big advantage of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series is that we didn’t have to go through that process, so the transition was very quick,” he said.
The industry norm is to disband teams after each release, then spend months reassembling the next project. New people need new roles, new trust, new workflows. Hamaguchi avoided it all by starting the design of Revelation a year before Rebirth shipped, then sent the same team to production.
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The results show in numbers. The remake took years of previous production. The rebirth took four years. The revelation took three. Each game was shipped faster than the last with the same people doing the work. Hamaguchi and Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida are the only two leaders at Square Enix who maintain consistent teams across projects. Both run highly successful company franchises.
“I think it’s something we have to remember as a company,” said Hamaguchi.Because this yielded a really big benefit in terms of speed and having an efficient development timeline.“
The lesson comes at a cruel time. Xbox is planning major layoffs in July under new CEO Asha Sharma. Microsoft and Meta cut tens of thousands of jobs this year while redirecting spending on AI. The gaming industry lost 11% of developers by 2024 according to GDC’s annual survey, and 41% were affected directly or through their teams.
Hamaguchi’s interview also reveals design decisions shaped by player feedback. The mini-game rewards in Revelations will only be good, not tied to combat strategy like they were in Rebirth. The Highwind airship will allow players to fly around the world without invisible walls, a feature that Hamaguchi passed on despite objections from developers. A new work program called FITS offers four different classes for each character, each with deep tree progression capabilities.
Only four or five people at Square Enix knew the title “The Revelation” before it was announced.” Hundreds of engineers have learned this word at the same time as the public.
After Revelation ships, Hamaguchi said his next project will not be a remake. You’re considering an AA title, a new Final Fantasy, or an original AAA franchise. He would like to keep the team together but agreed to the differences: to hold the talent in two persistent teams “it stagnates and hinders the growth of the company.” Tech companies continue to cut teams and wonder why the next one takes so long. Hamaguchi proved what happens when you don’t.
