The recent Final Fantasy 7 Remake delay won't affect the next parts of the game, according to Square Enix.
In a recent conference call with analysts and investors, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda fielded a question about whether the delay - which pushed the game's release date back just over a month from March 3 to April 10 - will have a knock-on effect for development on the next chapter.
"No, it will not," Matsuda answered.
Square Enix has confirmed that the first part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which is arriving in April, covers and expands upon the portion of the original game that takes place within the techno-dystopian city of Midgar. We know that more games will follow to continue the story, though Square Enix has not said how many of them there will be or when they'll be released. Matsuda previously explained in an interview with VGC why future parts should take less time to create.
“Due to the work already done on the first game, we anticipate development of the second game to be more efficient," Matsuda said. "We have our own internal schedule and plan, but for now we’d like to focus our information on the first game in the project.”
The Final Fantasy 7 Remake was first announced at E3 2015, so it may be faint reassurance that follow ups will take less time than "slightly under five years". Development on the remake shifted substantially in 2017, however, so that may be a more representative starting point to consider.
It also remains to be seen whether future chapters of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be timed PlayStation exclusives; thanks to the delay, the first part won't appear on other platforms until April 2021 at the earliest.
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