The recent unveiling of Unreal Engine 5 by Epic Games has given players a never before seen look at what might be coming for Next-Gen consoles like the PS5. Interestingly enough, the confirmation that the engine is coming to Next-Gen consoles may shed some light on a number of leaks related to the release schedule of Square-Enix's current and Next-Gen titles.
According to a leaker from Reddit, the release schedule for Square-Enix's upcoming games, including the next episode of Final Fantasy 7 Remake may be seeing a significant impact from the current situation with COVID-19. The leak was widely dismissed when it first appeared last month, due in large part to the fact that Unreal Engine 5 hadn't been confirmed yet, with many readers assuming that the engine wouldn't be ready for the release of Next-Gen consoles.
With the unveiling of Unreal Engine 5, and the news that the PS5 demo is playable, some are taking an all new look at some of those previous claims with the idea that the engine may already be in the hands of some developers. Both a Final Fantasy project and Kingdom Hearts project were mentioned in the leak, with plans to be developed under Unreal Engine 5 and release for the PS5 and Xbox Series. Now that the engine has been announced, much of this information shouldn't come as a shock for either of the projects slated for the new software, as Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts titles have previously been developed in Unreal Engine 4.
There are other issues with some of the leaks provided, such as the timeline of some of these titles releasing for current-gen systems as late as 2022. While Square-Enix has spoken out about not making any Next-Gen exclusives for some time, extending production of some of these games so far out from the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. So it should be noted that while the announcement of Unreal Engine 5 does lend some legitimacy to the previous claims about some of the titles in the works under the engine, this is still unconfirmed and cannot be guaranteed as fact.
The timeline of a few of these games is worrisome, especially the idea that the next part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be continued on Next-Gen consoles, which has been a worry for fans in the past. However, as mentioned before, the nature of these leaks does mean that fans might not want to take the information with a grain of salt. That being said, a new Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts title in Unreal Engine 5 would be quite the treat for fans who make the jump to Next-Gen.
Source: Reddit