The next installment of Final Fantasy 7 Remake could be revealed later this year, but an actual 2022 release seems unlikely after an update from Yoshinori Kitase. The first part of the current-gen Final Fantasy 7 Remake released in 2020 after years of fan speculation, and covers the original game's opening chapters of Cloud and company fighting against the corrupt Shinra Electric Power Company in the cyberpunk city of Midgar. A PS5-exclusive DLC titled FF7R Episode INTERmission expanded the plot of FF7 Remake with a side-story centered around the quirky ninja Yuffie last year, and Final Fantasy 7 Remake itself was recently ported to PC via the Epic Games Store in December.
Today, January 31, fans all over the world are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the original Final Fantasy 7, which took the world by storm when it first launched on the original PlayStation back in 1997. To celebrate this monumental milestone, FF7 Remake creative director Tetsuya Nomura has promised several new Final Fantasy 7 announcements to come in 2022, in addition to previously revealed games like the mobile spin-off Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis. Naturally, some fans are speculating that one of these announcements could be about the second part of Final Fantasy VII Remake, since details about the promised follow-up have been few and far between so far.
While the next part of FF7 Remake could very well be officially revealed in 2022, an actual release this year seems unlikely. As part of today’s Final Fantasy VII 25th anniversary celebration, original FFVII director Yoshinori Kitase stated that he intends to reveal the next game in the FF7 Remake series later this year, but notes that his team is currently working on Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (via VGC). The developer promises that there will be more information on Part 2 "this year if we can," suggesting a launch is still many months away. A translation of Yoshinori Kitase’s statement was provided to VGC by Twitter user and PixelJunkNews community manager PushDustIn.
While not much is officially known about what the second chapter of FF7 Remake will entail in terms of story and gameplay, fans are already excited to see what comes next after the timeline-altering events of the first game. FF7 Remake co-director Naoki Hamaguchi has teased that the second installment will explore the world beyond Midgar as Cloud and his friends journey onward in pursuit of the villainous Sephiroth, with creative director Tetsuya Nomura adding that players could see more varied environments in contrast to the first game’s focus on Midgar alone. Some Final Fantasy 7 Remake fans have since speculated that Part 2 could even feature an open world for Cloud and company to explore.
Fans could get a new look at Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 sometime later this year, but since Yoshinori Kitase only mentions that this information will only be released if his team is ready means that it could come very late in the year, if at all. While many were hoping to enjoy the next FF7 Remake game in 2022, players will likely have to wait until 2023 or beyond to finally step back into the world of Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Source: VGC, PushDustIn/Twitter