Who’s going to be put in charge of making Final Fantasy XVII? It’s a question on fans’ minds, and one that even came up onstage during Final Fantasy XIV‘s Berlin Fan Fest over the weekend.
Naoki Hamaguchi, who is currently directing Revelation, the third and final game in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, made a surprise appearance at the event to promote an upcoming Final Fantasy VII crossover with the MMORPG for its Evercold expansion raid. While the Square Enix star was on stage, Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida sung his praises.
Yoshida complimented his colleague for how grand and sprawling the remake trilogy is and for the team’s ability to turn around new games fairly quickly. He also pointed to the types of online comments Hamaguchi gets from fans. “There were comments along the lines of, ‘I want this guy to make Final Fantasy XVII,” Yoshida said via his translator. “So, I think that’s probably the highest praise you can get.”
Did…Yoshi-P just hint that Hamaguchi is maybe working on FF17?? LOL
Yoshi-P: I think it’s one of the biggest compliments people were saying in the comments they wish Hamaguchi is making FF17. But you don’t have to answer…!
Hamaguchi: If I answer…
Yoshi-P: No, no, don’t! pic.twitter.com/7KaNpK67nM
— ☆オードリーAudrey☆ (@aitaikimochi) July 26, 2026
The Final Fantasy XIV director then quickly butted in to save Hamaguchi from saying something that might fuel even more fan speculation. “You don’t have to answer,” he interjected while laughing.
After two decades of ups and downs from Final Fantasy XIII, to Final Fantasy XV, to Final Fantasy XVI, some fans have been hoping for something more consistent from the franchise. And with the remake trilogy in particular, it feels like Hamaguchi and his team have nailed a decent hybrid of turn-based and real-time action combat, and found a good compromise between open world exploration and the traditional linear RPG adventure.
Hamaguchi previously said he didn’t know what he’d work on next, but given Revelation won’t ship until early 2027, any new numbered Final Fantasy led by him would probably be quite a ways out. It’s been taking Square Enix roughly seven years to get new entries in the series out. At that rate, we shouldn’t be expecting Final Fantasy XVII, regardless of who directs it, until 2030.
Yoshida also pushed back on some fan requests for applying the Final Fantasy VII Remake formula to other beloved games in the franchise. “So, of course, now because you are working on the Final Fantasy VII series, I do get that people would be asking for remakes of other titles,” he said. “But if we did remake those other titles, we’d probably end up having to release them in four or maybe even five installments.”
