Square Enix hopes a Final Fantasy 7 remake will increase PS4 install base

A Final Fantasy 7 remake has been top of our wishlists for about a decade. What made Square Enix give in now?

Final Fantasy 7 remake director Tetsuya Nomura has said the project's timing relates to Square Enix's hopes for the growth of new-gen platforms.

"Why now? This week at E3 we announced several titles coming to the PS4: not only FFXV, Kingdom Hearts 3, and World of Final Fantasy, but [also] a new Star Ocean and more," he told Engadget.

"Rather than announce the remake after those titles went on sale, we wanted to give gamers something that would make them happy - open them up, perhaps, to buying into the PS4."

To put this in context: the home console market isn't doing as well in Japan as internationally, and developers and publishers aren't happy about it. (I noticed another reference to this today in an interview with Nier director Yoko Taro on Gematsu.)

Square Enix in particular is very keen to increase to new-gen install base in Japan and abroad, and that's one of the reason why it brought Final Fantasy Type-0 to home consoles.

It's funny, isn't it; western publishers are all optimism about the next generation, but Square Enix Japan shows the feeling isn't universal.

The FF7 remake is releasing "first on PS4", so we expect it'll come to Xbox One too. No idea when that might be; the project seems to be in the very early stages.