It has not been a good few months for fans of physical game ownership. Sony confirmed it will stop manufacturing PlayStation disc games in January 2028. Grand Theft Auto 6 launched in box form with a code instead of a disc. Nintendo has moved major titles to key cards that require a digital download to play in full. Against all of that, Naoki Hamaguchi — director of Final Fantasy Revelation — is pushing his own publisher to keep the physical edition alive for the trilogy’s finale. And he is not confident he can deliver one.
The Industry Pressure Bearing Down on Physical Releases
Final Fantasy Revelation, the concluding part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, is slated for an early 2027 release. That timing puts it just ahead of Sony’s disc production cutoff — technically safe, but the window is narrower than it looks. Publishers making long-term manufacturing commitments for a 2027 title need to start planning now, and the broader industry wind is blowing hard in the other direction.
Rockstar’s decision to ship box-with-code editions for GTA 6 effectively normalised the practice for mainstream audiences. If the biggest release in gaming history can skip a playable disc, the argument for any other publisher to do the same becomes easier to make in any internal meeting. Square Enix is not immune to those conversations.
What Hamaguchi Is Actually Pushing For
Speaking to GamesRadar at the Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival in Berlin, Hamaguchi was careful with his words — and self-aware about why.
“We’re still having internal discussions on what the exact SKU product lineup is going to be for Revelation, so I can’t say anything particularly definitive at this point in time. But I am working to make the arrangements to allow us to have some kind of physical edition.”
That phrase — “some kind of physical edition” — is doing a lot of work. Hamaguchi clarified that his definition is broader than a disc in a box. He flagged codes in a box, Nintendo-style key cards, and boot discs as formats he considers acceptable forms of physical release. For collectors who value having something tangible to hold and sign at fan events, that may be enough. For players who buy physical specifically to own a game that works without an internet connection, it may not be.
He also acknowledged the absurdity of his own position. “If you publish this, and then we announce all the products later and there is no physical edition,” he said with a laugh, “then they’re going to rip me to pieces.”
Why Final Fantasy Fans Are Watching Closely
The final fantasy Remake trilogy has a strong physical track record. The original Final Fantasy 7 Remake shipped on disc in 2020. Rebirth followed in 2024 on two discs — a notable commitment given the size of the game. A physical complete trilogy edition bundling all three games has been widely anticipated, and Square Enix has not ruled it out even if the individual Revelation release ends up being code-based.
There is also a platform-specific dimension worth noting. Nintendo Switch 2 key cards have storage limits that may require additional downloads regardless of format. PlayStation’s disc capacity has its own ceiling — Rebirth’s two-disc release suggests Revelation could be even larger. These are the “specific rules and regulations” Hamaguchi mentioned, and they complicate even a sincere push for a physical edition.
Will Square Enix Commit to a Disc Before Revelation Launches?
Hamaguchi is on record as wanting a physical edition, and Square Enix has a strong commercial incentive to provide one — the final fantasy fanbase buys collector’s sets, limited editions, and complete trilogy bundles in significant numbers. Whether that translates into a fully playable disc, a code in a box, or something else is a decision that has not been made. Revelation is still more than a year from launch, and Square Enix will announce the full product lineup in due course.
For now, the director’s position is both a promise and a caveat: he is trying, and he knows that trying is not the same as delivering.
