{"id":12537,"date":"2026-08-04T18:51:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T15:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=12537"},"modified":"2026-08-04T22:45:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T19:15:43","slug":"it-would-be-a-real-shame-for-that-culture-to-disappear-final-fantasy-7-revelation-director-says-physical-game-releases-must-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/08\/04\/it-would-be-a-real-shame-for-that-culture-to-disappear-final-fantasy-7-revelation-director-says-physical-game-releases-must-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;It Would Be a Real Shame for That Culture to Disappear&#8217;: Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Director Says Physical Game Releases Must Continue"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi has said that the end of physical games risked part of our culture disappearing, in the wake of Sony&#8217;s controversial decision to kill PlayStation 5 discs.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Last month, Sony made headlines when it announced and end to new games shipping on disc from January 2028 onwards, triggering a huge backlash from many fans. Now, at the recent FF14 Fan Fest, Ashif\u2019s Release Notes asked Hamaguchi for his personal thoughts on the matter.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;In terms of my thoughts on physical editions, as a gamer myself, I love them,&#8221; Hamaguchi replied, adding that, as a game creator, it made him happy when fans asked him to sign their physical copies. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;It would be a real shame for that culture to disappear,&#8221; Hamaguchi continued. &#8220;I think physical games will still be sold in some form in the future, for example as a download code in a box. Moreover, I want physical games to continue \u2014 both as a creator and a game fan.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Final Fantasy VII Revelation Screenshots<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/it-would-be-a-real-shame-for-that-culture-to-disappear-final-fantasy-7-revelation-director-says-physical-game-releases-must-continue.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3027214138 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">This isn&#8217;t the first time that Hamaguchi has addressed the end of physical games. At the same event, the director said he was pushing for a physical release for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, though admitted that the matter had not yet been decided. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The long-awaited final part of FF7&#8217;s remake trilogy, Revelation is currently slated for a spring 2027 release, when it will also launch across multiple platforms simultaneously. Asked again about a physical launch for the title, Hamaguchi reiterated that he would &#8220;like to have some kind of physical edition available,&#8221; though could not yet make any promises. &#8220;We are looking into what the best options are, but I hope we will be able to live up to your expectations,&#8221; he added. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;As it&#8217;s nearing completion, I can personally pick it up and say, &#8216;this feels good, this feels satisfying&#8217;,&#8221; Hamaguchi said of the game in general, &#8220;so I\u2019m quite confident about it. Of course, the final judgement will be down to the players but I feel confident, I can see the end, and I can finally feel the pressure lifting.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth started out as PlayStation exclusives before being released on other platforms, including Nintendo Switch 2. However, FF7 Revelation is due to ship on PC, PS5, Switch 2 and Xbox Series X\/S simultaneously \u2014 a first for the remake trilogy. <\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"tierlist-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\" id=\"best-mainline-final-fantasy-games\" data-cy=\"best-mainline-final-fantasy-games\">\n<div class=\"card jsx-2310533475 jsx-1355461925 box\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3547261442 jsx-2986308351\"><span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-4269505506 TierListHeader_header__xyy5a\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3647836811 jsx-4269505506 TierListHeader_title__UxzQx\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ign-icon icon-tier-list jsx-2750866048 jsx-1879929830\" role=\"img\" aria-hidden=\"false\" data-cy=\"icon-tier-list\" alt=\"Tier List\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/kraken.ignimgs.com\/_next\/static\/media\/TierList.c19f1c86.svg?cors=0\"><\/p>\n<h3 data-cy=\"title3\" class=\"title3 jsx-12333944 jsx-2321054750 TierListHeader_full__J6p2u\">Best Mainline Final Fantasy Games<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-957202555 TierListHeader_compact__7JWp1 balanced\">Best Mainline Final Fantasy Games<\/h3>\n<p><\/span><\/span><span class=\"stack jsx-3547261442\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">&#8220;For me, it is quite meaningful to be able to bring it back to Nintendo platforms,&#8221; Hamaguchi said of Revelation&#8217;s multi-platform launch. A self-confessed FF6 fan, Hamaguchi recalled witnessing Final Fantasy&#8217;s move from Nintendo to PlayStation as a child, and remembers playing the original FF7 on PS1, when the series moved from SNES cartridges to the greater possibilities offered by Sony\u2019s compact disc format. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Other Japanese game creators have also given their opinions on physical games and the all-digital future we seem to be heading towards. Disgaea creator and former Nippon Ichi Software CEO Sohei Niikawa addressed Sony\u2019s decision directly, saying that although it made sense from a business perspective Sony \u201cmay never have considered what physical editions mean to the people who value them.&#8221; Hideo Kojima said of Sony\u2019s decision that &#8220;I grew up with physical media, so I find it really sad.&#8221; Nier creator Yoko Taro also echoed these sentiments in an X post where he encouraged people to buy physical game releases while they still can.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.<\/p>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/it-would-be-a-real-shame-for-that-culture-to-disappear-final-fantasy-7-revelation-director-says-physical-game-releases-must-continue.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/it-would-be-a-real-shame-for-that-culture-to-disappear-final-fantasy-7-revelation-director-says-physical-game-releases-must-continue.webp\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/it-would-be-a-real-shame-for-that-culture-to-disappear-final-fantasy-7-revelation-director-says-physical-game-releases-must-continue.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/it-would-be-a-real-shame-for-that-culture-to-disappear-final-fantasy-7-revelation-director-says-physical-game-releases-must-continue.webp\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-12537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12537"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12539,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12537\/revisions\/12539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}