Final Fantasy 7 Remake digital release date, pre-load time, size, and more

The highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake will finally launch on April 10. That said, some copies are already out in the wild in Europe and Australia, so you North American or digital-only players are any in regards to knowing when you can play FF7 Remake. That information has all been divulged by Square Enix, and Inverse has rounded it up here for you.

When will FF7 Remake be available to download? Square Enix's latest is still a week out, but it's already available for pre-load! Anyone who pre-ordered or purchases a digital version for the PS4 can immediately download the full game.

"We know that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many people having to stay at home, some of you may be experiencing extra pressure on your internet bandwidth," Square Enix announced in a statement. "We wanted to give all our fans some extra time to download the game."

How to download FF7 Remake? Navigate to the PS Store on PS4, search "Final Fantasy VII Remake" and pre-order the game. Alternatively, if you have a digital download code from a different retailer, you can redeem it via the PS Store by selecting "Redeem Code" on the left-hand menu where you can input the code and download it.

Considering the game's massive file size and the fact that Sony is slowing download speeds in North America and Europe, this is something you should consider doing if you a pre-ordering FF7 Remake.

Is FF7 Remake getting an early digital release? Despite retailers around the world breaking the street date on physical copies of the game, like in Australia, there's no sign that the game will be released early on digital. Unless something changes in the next week — and it probably won't — gamers will be able to play FF7 Remake at 12 a.m. Eastern on April 10.

How large is the FF7 Remake download? Final Fantasy VII Remake is a pretty massive game. It was first reported on Twitter in February that the game would require close to 100 GB of memory, but the actual download is closer to 86 GB. Either way, that's around a fifth of the hard drive of a basic PS4, so be sure to clear out some space on your console if you want to play the remake.

FF7 Remake's size rivals the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2 and Call of Duty: Warzone. "Rather than thinking about repurposing standard assets for individual locations, like the Slums or the Shinra Building, we decided to build each location using unique assets to achieve the quality desired," FF7 Remake Co-Director Naoki Hamaguchi told US Gamer in an interview earlier this week.

"As such, we designed assets like the backgrounds, [background music] and characters per location, which allowed for a unique gameplay experience in each area, even from a game design perspective." While FF7 Remake is one of the most beautiful games to grace PS4, it comes at the cost of that hefty file size.

The final trailer is littered with spoilers — One final trailer for FF7 Remake was released by Square Enix on Thursday, and it's a doozy. Mostly focused on the story with just a bit of gameplay, it highlights a lot of new scenes that weren't included in the original. That includes an intimate conversion between Cloud and Aerith, exciting bike and car changes, and a big confrontation with Sephiroth that will likely come at the end of the game.

While Red XII won't be playable, we also see more of him in the trailer. If you are concerned about story spoilers, this trailer does give away quite a bit. That said, if you are familiar with the original and just want to see more FF7 Remake, you should check out the new trailer.

Final Fantasy VII Remake will be available for PS4 on April 10, 2020.