Final Fantasy 7 Remake has become one of Square Enix's biggest successes of the past decade. While fans have known for a long time that this is just the first entry in a multi-part long Final Fantasy 7 Remake project, not much information is available regarding future titles in the series, especially the next entry currently in development at Square Enix. One tidbit fans have now learned, however, is that Final Fantasy 7 Remake Lead Director Tetsuya Nomura will not be directing the next title.
Tetsuya Nomura is one of Square Enix's most recognizable personnel, mainly known for his work in the Final Fantasy series, and as the creator of the Kingdom Hearts series. Nomura acted as the lead character designer for the original Final Fantasy 7, while also helping direct elements of the game's story, including one infamous character death. Following this, Nomura worked as lead character designer for almost every mainline Final Fantasy RPG since 7, as well as his own Kingdom Hearts series, and other Square Enix titles such as Parasite Eve and The World Ends With You. He also led the development of many of the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7's titles, including making his debut as a film director with Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children.
In an interview with Famitsu (translated by Twitter user @aitaikimochi) published just after the announcement of Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Intergrade, the upgraded PlayStation 5 version of last year's game featuring brand new story content, Nomura revealed that he will not be leading development of the next title in the Remake series, instead handing the director's chair to Naoki Hamaguchi, who co-directed the last game, as Nomura will now take on the role of creative director while he balances working on the game alongside other projects.
Nomura taking a step back from the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series is somewhat unsurprising considering the studio's biggest challenge to overcome was meeting fans' expectations for such an incredibly ambitious project. Now that the groundwork has been set and Final Fantasy 7 Remake has received incredible critical and commercial success and the groundwork has been set for future titles, Nomura can safely reduce his involvement going forward to work on other projects. This doesn't mean that Nomura will not be a major part of the series going forward, a creative director is still one of the most influential creatives behind any game during development.
When fans can expect the next title is an entirely separate situation. Square Enix has been dead silent on when the next entry will be ready, however the new story content introduced in Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Intergrade may provide some more hints for what to expect in the next entry.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now on PlayStation 4. An expanded PlayStation 5 version titled Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Intergrade will release on June 10, 2021.