Square Enix has finally revealed the next entry in the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The trailer for this highly-anticipated game also came with a frustrating caveat, as the game is repeating one of the biggest mistakes of FF7 Remake. It seems that the fanbase will be divided once more, due to Sony buying some more timed exclusivity from Square Enix.
The original FF7 was a PlayStation console exclusive for many years, though it did receive a butchered port on PC. Nowadays, it's possible to play FF7 on every modern platform, including mobile devices. The same isn't true of FF7 Remake, which is still involved in different exclusivity deals. FF7 Remake launched on PS4 in 2020 and it's the only version of the game with that name. In June 2021, FF7 Remake Intergrade was an upgraded release of the game for PS5. Intergrade would be released for PC via the Epic Games Store in December 2021 and it's due to receive a Steam release on June 17, 2022. As of the time of writing, there are no versions of FF7 Remake or Intergrade available on Xbox systems, nor a cloud version for Nintendo Switch.
The highly-anticipated next entry in the FF7 Remake series was announced today during the Final Fantasy VII Anniversary Celebration livestream. The next game is FF7 Rebirth and it's set to launch in winter 2023, though there's always a chance it could be delayed into 2024. The trailer also revealed the first system that FF7 Rebirth will be arriving on, which means that the fanbase will be split once more.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Is Another PlayStation Timed Exclusive
The FF7 Rebirth trailer confirms that the game is coming to PS5 first. This means that Sony and Square Enix likely worked out a similar timed console exclusivity deal that was in place for FF7 Remake on PS4 and fans on other platforms will have to wait either six months or a year to play the game. It's clear that the FOMO approach works for Sony; otherwise, the company wouldn't bother, as Square Enix likely wants something big in return for keeping such a big game on one platform.
The other frustrating thing about the timed exclusivity is the PS5's ongoing console shortages. Sony has had tremendous difficulty putting PS5 units on shelves and there's no indication these issues will end soon. Luckily, FF7 Rebirth won't be coming out for another year and a half, so it's possible that Sony will have finally fixed its supply issues by then, but if not, then diehard fans will be stuck in a frustrating position. Keeping FF7 Rebirth on one platform is bad for the fanbase, as it splits them up into groups of people who can and cannot play the game, which will be even more annoying if people can't even buy the console that it's available on at launch if the PS5 console shortage continues into 2023.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will be released in winter 2023 for PlayStation 5.
