Ethan Crossfield 
If you’ve been hoping Square Enix will announce a Final Fantasy VI remake next, recent comments from two of the series’ biggest modern directors suggest you should temper expectations—and prepare for a longer wait. Here’s what changed, who said what, and why the workload could dwarf even the already-extended FFVII Remake path.
What changed: speculation around FFVI meets a reality check
For years, fans have asked for modern remakes of classic entries in Square Enix’s JRPG crown. While Final Fantasy VII finally received a remake trilogy starting in 2015, attention has now shifted toward other “most-wanted” candidates—especially Final Fantasy VI, which has already been given a Pixel Remaster treatment.
Over the past month and a half, however, prominent directors involved with the current remake era have cooled the hype. Naoki Hamaguchi, who has been directing the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, indicated that he is focused on completing the trilogy’s conclusion—Final Fantasy VII Revelation—before thinking about anything else. When asked about a hypothetical FFVI remake, he acknowledged that fans are discussing it, but suggested it would likely be better handled by another creator within Square Enix.
Who is affected: Hamaguchi and Yoshida set expectations for the workload
Hamaguchi’s comments weren’t limited to fan questions. In a separate exchange, he also framed his next steps as unlikely to be a remake project, pointing instead toward opportunities for smaller-scale work (such as a double-A title) or new Final Fantasy projects, including the possibility of entirely new franchises.
The skepticism deepened when Naoki Yoshida weighed in during a conversation at the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Berlin. Yoshida said that a Final Fantasy VI remake would require an immense amount of work, and he warned that the project could balloon into multiple installments—potentially more than the already drawn-out approach used for FFVII. His point was straightforward: Final Fantasy VI is a huge game, and other similarly large entries like Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX would face the same “scale problem” if they followed the remake framework.
Taken together, these remarks don’t confirm that FFVI is off the table. But they do signal that the people steering the current remake conversation aren’t particularly eager to take on another massive, multi-part remake immediately.
What comes next: why FFVII’s path may be the model—and the lesson
The article’s context also matters. Yoshinori Kitase previously explained that the FFVII Remake idea didn’t emerge in a vacuum—it was repeatedly brought up during the Final Fantasy XIII U.S. media tour. Once the question became persistent enough, Kitase and Tetsuya Nomura discussed it back in Japan and felt they had to act rather than let other teams take the lead.
Nomura described this internal remake culture at Square Enix as something that gradually expanded across departments, creating pressure to protect FFVII by ensuring the project was handled by the right people. Kitase and Nomura’s motivation helped turn a persistent rumor into a real multi-year undertaking.
So for FFVI supporters, the hope is not that a remake is imminent—but that the same kind of determination could eventually appear. Until then, the confirmed near-term milestone remains Final Fantasy VII Revelation, scheduled for 2027 across major modern platforms simultaneously.
What players should know
- Recent comments from Hamaguchi and Yoshida suggest a Final Fantasy VI remake would be extremely difficult to execute, likely at multi-installment scale.
- Hamaguchi says he’s currently focused on finishing the FFVII Remake trilogy, and he implied FFVI might be better handled by someone else.
- Yoshida’s remarks frame FFVI (and other large entries) as candidates that could require several installments if remade in the same style.
| Director | Role in the remake era | Key takeaway from comments |
|---|---|---|
| Naoki Hamaguchi | Director of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy | Focused on completing FFVII Revelation; indicated FFVI remaking may not be his next step. |
| Naoki Yoshida | Final Fantasy XIV director and Final Fantasy XVI producer | Said an FFVI remake would demand immense work and could require multiple installments. |
Expert View
Based on what’s been said, the most likely near-term outcome is not an FFVI announcement, but continued attention from fans while Square Enix finishes the FFVII trilogy. The encouraging angle is that the current directors aren’t dismissing the idea outright—they’re stressing the scope and timing. If Square Enix ever decides to greenlight FFVI, the project will probably need the same kind of internal momentum that helped FFVII become real.
