It seems that the development process for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake is about to undergo some major changes. During a Mobius Final Fantasy livestream over the weekend, project lead Naoki Hamaguchi stated that production was being brought in-house, with less of an emphasis on external collaborators.
"The information is already available online, but I’ve taken charge on the development side for Final Fantasy 7 Remake," revealed Hamaguchi. "Until now, development was moving forward with external cooperation, but the company has decided to shift to an internal setup, including mass production and quality, because we want to control everything, including quality, on a stable schedule."
This news adds some context to the staff recruitment campaign that Square Enix jump-started last week. Given that the studio will be tackling the project internally, it makes a lot of sense that more designers, artists, and programmers would be required.
Square Enix hasn't shared a great deal of information on which companies it had been partnering with to facilitate development of the remake. However, we do know that .hack developer CyberConnect2 had been recruited — although it remains to be seen whether or not the studio has been relieved of its duties entirely.
It's likely that the timeline for the project was a major factor in Square Enix's decision to pursue internal development. Just a few days ago, it was revealed that the Final Fantasy 7 Remake might not be released until 2020, which disappointed many fans who have been eagerly anticipating the game since it was unveiled at E3 2015.
The remake will be episodic, which could cause some frustration among players if Sony releases the PlayStation 5 before all installments have been released. Hopefully, with development being carried out in-house, Square Enix can ensure that the game achieves a high level of quality without spending too long in production.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is in development for the PlayStation 4.