Square Enix had quite the hit on its hands when the Japanese publisher released the highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake earlier this year. With the publisher managing to rise up above most fan expectations, eyes are now on the upcoming Part 2 of the game, which will see Cloud & friends take their first steps out of Midgar and into the world. While details on the 2nd Part of the series of remake games remain scarce, it has been revealed that the ongoing pandemic won’t have a significant impact on the title’s development.

The revelation comes by way of a recent interview with The Guardian, wherein Final Fantasy VII Remake co-director Naoki Hamaguchi and producer Yoshinori Kitase were asked about how COVID-19 affected development of the first part of the remake. According to Kitase, the fact that the game was slated to release during the pandemic effectively “blindsided” the team.

Further on in the discussion, Yoshinori Kitase opened up about how the development of Part 2 of the remake has been impacted by COVID-19. “At this current time, the team are still making the next game via remote working,” he said. “Our performance will temporarily drop below 100% efficiency because of this, but I do not think there should be a big impact in the long term.”

In regards to what Part 2 will entail, Kitase seems to be more than happy simply sitting back and letting fan rumors and theories continue to trickle in. “I am not able to tell you the answer to that now,” Kitase explained when asked if the game’s story will continue to veer off course in Part 2. “I understand that there is a lot of speculation among the fans; that is what we wanted and we’ve really enjoyed seeing these theories and guesses of what the ending means. We wanted the fans to keep the discussion going on social media and keep their excitement high as we head towards the next game.”

Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 is now in development.

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