'Final Fantasy 7' Remake Release Date: Stop the Hype Train, Square Enix

Gamers have been clamoring for a Final Fantasy 7 remake ever since Square Enix showed it off as a tech demo back in 2005. Now, the company is finally ready to admit that it may have started the hype train on this one a little too early.

No kidding. When it comes to pre-emptively announcing games that are nowhere near ready to launch Square Enix has very little competition. The only company that comes close at the moment is probably Bethesda, which teased plans for Elder Scrolls VI at E3 2018 even though it may not arrive until the next generation of video game consoles.

But unlike Bethesda, Square Enix is particularly bad at managing fan expectations. The company even set up an E3 2018 presentation (a rare occurrence for the Japanese studio) only to completely skip over the games we wanted to hear about the most (Final Fantasy 7 and the Avengers game).

In an interview with Italian gaming site Multiplayer, Square Enix director Tetsuya Nomura admitted that the company still has a lot to learn when it comes to teasing out future plans,

“I am well aware of the fact that we announced it too early,” Nomura said, “but even in the industry, word was beginning to spread that we were working on the game, so we just decided not to keep it more secret and officially reveal it.”

So basically, Square Enix says it wanted to get out ahead of the rumors by confirming the Final Fantasy 7 remake and Kingdom Hearts 3 as early as possible. The problem with this, however, is that if the company can’t follow that news with regular updates, it only causes fans to come up with new and even crazier rumors.

On top of that, everytime Square Enix makes a big announcement that doesn’t include those games it only sends fans into an even deeper frenzy. In an attempt to control expectations, the company is just making things worse.

“Deciding when to announce your game to the public is always difficult,” Nomura added. “In our case, we receive pressure from the fans even when we do not announce anything.”

It’s a tough situation to be in, and as the creator of some of the most beloved video games of all time, Square Enix is in a tough spot. But if there’s any lesson to be learned here it’s that you really shouldn’t announce a new game unless you’re ready to keep fans satiated with regular updates.

Until then, Square Enix is probably better off just letting fans’ imaginations run wild.