Square Enix Faces Team Retention Dilemma After Final Fantasy 7 Revelation

Square Enix has managed a rare feat in modern game development: completing a trilogy in just seven years. As the studio looks toward the 2027 launch of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, the team behind the project—which managed to retain 95 percent of the staff that worked on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth—is now facing an uncertain future.

The Efficiency of a Consistent Team

According to director Naoki Hamaguchi, the primary reason for the project's rapid turnaround is the stability of the development team. Typically, when a title finishes, development teams at Square Enix disband, requiring a lengthy process of gathering new members and defining roles for the next project. By keeping the core group together for the Final Fantasy 7 series, the studio bypassed that hurdle entirely.

"The benefit is that everyone is naturally aware of what they need to do," Hamaguchi explained in an interview with Bloomberg. He noted that he had never previously considered keeping a team together in this manner, as it is not standard practice at the company outside of Final Fantasy 14.

The Future of the Final Fantasy 7 Team

With Revelation set to conclude the trilogy, the question of whether this cohesive group will remain intact remains unresolved. Hamaguchi expressed a personal desire to continue working with his current team, citing the respect he has for his colleagues and the value of the insights they have gained over the last decade.

However, he is also weighing the needs of Square Enix as a whole. "If we were to have all the resources in my team, and Naoki Yoshida's team, that staggers and hinders the growth of the company and the development team members as a whole," Hamaguchi said. He emphasized that as a leader, he must be mindful of providing different opportunities to the company’s talented developers rather than monopolizing them.

While the long-term future of the team is up in the air, Hamaguchi has already begun looking at ways to expand the franchise’s footprint. He has teased that he is open to bookending the trilogy with expansions based on older spin-offs, such as Dirge of Cerberus, should there be sufficient interest from fans.

For now, the focus remains on the 2027 launch, with the industry watching to see if the success of this retention model will influence future game development strategies at Square Enix.