Final Fantasy VII Remake director Naoki Hamaguchi has said he would prefer his team to develop a brand-new Final Fantasy game or an original IP rather than take on another remake project. He believes working on something new would give the developers an opportunity to explore fresh ideas and reach a wider audience.
Speaking in an interview with YouTuber mistermv, shared by Genki_JPN, Hamaguchi discussed what he would like his team to work on after completing the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy.
Hamaguchi said he is excited to see what the team creates next, but suggested that another remake would be better handled by a different development group. His preference is to move towards a new mainline Final Fantasy project or an entirely original game.
He also stressed the importance of studios taking on new challenges rather than continuing to revisit existing titles. According to Hamaguchi, experimenting with new projects is important for attracting players who may not already be familiar with a particular franchise.
Hamaguchi has spent much of his career working on Square Enix’s major RPG franchises. He joined the company in 2003 and contributed to games including Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XIII and Mobius Final Fantasy.
He later served as co-director of Final Fantasy VII Remake alongside Tetsuya Nomura before becoming the main director of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Final Fantasy VII Revelation.
The team responsible for the remake trilogy operates under Square Enix’s Creative Studio 1, previously known as Creative Business Unit I and, before that, Business Division 1. The studio has been responsible for several of the publisher’s major RPG projects, with producer Yoshinori Kitase and developers including Nomura and Hamaguchi playing central roles.
Its previous work includes Kingdom Hearts III, Final Fantasy VIII Remastered and Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis. The division is also associated with future franchise projects, including Kingdom Hearts IV.
