As part of the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2026, a collaboration was announced with Final Fantasy VII centered around the theme of the new raid series. We had the opportunity to talk with Director Naoki Hamaguchi about it.
During the opening ceremony of the Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival on July 25, 2026, the theme of the raid series of the new expansion “Evercold” was revealed, which will be released in January 2027: Final Fantasy 7.
Under the name “Beyond the Lifestream,” there will be a complete, independent storyline and a total of 12 new raids that will merge the world of Final Fantasy 7 into Final Fantasy 14.
We were able to speak with Naoki Hamaguchi, the Director of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, especially the parts Rebirth and Revelation, about the close collaboration between the two teams and what makes the new raid series special. You can read his answers here in our interview.
An ambitious collaboration with passion
MeinMMO: First of all, thank you for this opportunity. It’s truly an honor to meet you. I must admit, I was very excited when the new raid theme was announced. As someone who frequently plays raids and grew up with Final Fantasy 7, it is honestly a dream come true to see these two games connected.
What was your first thought when it became clear that this collaboration would happen? What was the most important thing for you and your team at the beginning of the planning?
Naoki Hamaguchi: The starting point was actually a conversation between Yoshida-san and me about the release timelines and dates of our various projects. Evercold in January and Revelation in spring – those dates are quite close together.
Instead of just releasing Evercold in January and Revelation in spring, couldn’t we as “Final Fantasy” games do something together to breathe new life into the entire series?
It would be a bit strange if suddenly things from 14 appeared at the end of Revelation or something like that. After many discussions, we decided that the best approach – also for the fans – would be a large, comprehensive collaboration with 7 in the world of 14, which we also fully support from a development perspective.
Final Fantasy 7 is a massive brand in the gaming industry. When developers get the chance to work with 7, they tend to think: “We have to give it our all.” So when we received the first draft and proposal from the 14 team, it was quite impressive.
We embraced this passion; we said: “We see you, we love this,” but there are of course certain aspects of the world and lore of Final Fantasy 7 that we want to ensure we preserve and stay true to. So we really had a sort of collaborative communication process, and that is still ongoing as we continue to refine the story and what we are doing.
A raid series focused on story and characters
MeinMMO: Were there things that were particularly important to you and your team that you definitely wanted to see in Final Fantasy 14? I mean, other than Sephiroth, of course.
Naoki Hamaguchi: Well, I can’t really go into much detail about the characters, the world, and the lore. Especially since we haven’t said it on stage, I should probably better not say it here either. Although I can’t talk too much about the specific content, I can say that the range of themes and ideas being considered from the Final Fantasy 7 Remake is really very broad and far-reaching. So I hope you’re looking forward to the next update, where we can provide more information about it.
When I asked people on stage who they wanted to see, everyone shouted out so many different answers that I really couldn’t understand a single one of them.
MeinMMO: If you had to explain to the players in one sentence what they can look forward to the most with the new raid series, what is it that makes it so special, what would you say?
Naoki Hamaguchi: I think it’s the fact that the world of 7 is coming into the world of 14, how all that is interconnected and being rebuilt. Of course, we want the players to enjoy the battles as well, but I think it’s the story and the lore that people should really pay attention to.
Here you can watch the trailer for Final Fantasy VII Revelation:
MeinMMO: Speaking of lore and story, what significance will the bosses have in the storyline of the raid series?
Naoki Hamaguchi: That’s a secret! I better not say anything at all, otherwise Yoshida-san will come and say: “Hey, why are you telling them everything?!” So, um, it’s a secret.
MeinMMO: What would you say connects the two games the most?
Naoki Hamaguchi: Personally, I think – and I’m sure Yoshida-san thinks the same – there are many different genres of games, and I think the most important thing for me in considering this is how the story and the gameplay experience come together to convey that.
So whether you have a single-player RPG, whether it’s an MMORPG like the one Yoshida-san’s team is developing, or another type of live-service game: It all comes down to how the world and the lore are integrated and how engaging that is. I think fundamentally there is this connection between many different games.
The challenges and potential of the teams
MeinMMO: Were there challenges in bringing the two different “Final Fantasy” titles together? Were there points where you had to make bigger compromises that you hadn’t thought of before?
Naoki Hamaguchi: It’s less of a compromise, but of course Final Fantasy 14 has its own established story and world, just like 7. And then it’s about: “How do we align both of them?” This applies not only to 14 and 7, but whenever you collaborate with another game. You have to figure out how it all fits together.
For example, if Cloud appears and says: “I’m Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7,” you have to figure out how that would work in 14. And then fans would sit there and wonder: “What’s happening in the world of 7 while he’s here? What’s going on there? Where did he go?”
You have to be very careful with the rules and pay close attention to how the logic of this crossover works – no matter what kind of crossover it is. So that’s something we have to pay a lot of attention to.
The raids in Final Fantasy 14 also have their own rules and workings. So when we say we want this character, we have to think about how this character from 7 would fit into the raid format and how that would work. How can we achieve what we set out to do? We have many such discussions.
MeinMMO: What is it like to work on Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 14 at the same time? Are there any particular challenges involved?
Naoki Hamaguchi: Essentially, the development work in the context of this collaboration is mostly handled by the 14 development team, while we focus primarily on the story, the ideas, and the initial phase. One point we must pay attention to is the regular patch schedule for 14.
That’s why we need to develop realistic ideas and assess the workload realistically. Both teams are extremely passionate and motivated in this endeavor. So we’ve already developed a lot of content, and I’m sure we are putting quite a strain on the 14 development team – for that, I want to apologize to them.
MeinMMO: If you could develop a completely new job or content type for Final Fantasy 14, what would it look like and would it be connected to your experience from the development of Final Fantasy 7?
Naoki Hamaguchi: I don’t think I should sit here and say: “Oh, I’d like to implement this job or this content,” because as soon as I say that, articles will be written like: “Hamaguchi-san said he will implement this job in 14!” I am not a developer of 14, so I will not answer that.
What I would like to say, however, is that in the 7 Remake team, we focused on character-based storytelling – something that the 14 team also does, albeit with very different approaches. Hopefully, that’s something that our teams can inspire each other with.
At the same time, we focused on a single-player RPG experience, while Final Fantasy 14 has amazing expertise in multiplayer games. I just think there is a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in both teams that we can draw on and inspire each other with. And hopefully, that’s exactly what will come out of this collaboration.
A thought experiment to conclude
MeinMMO: To conclude, here’s a more creative question: If Cloud and Tifa were born in Eorzea, what would their life look like? What role would they play in the world and the story of Final Fantasy 14 – what do you think?
Naoki Hamaguchi: If a character is born in a completely different world, then their entire fate and life will unfold completely differently! I can’t think of any ideas for that right now. So, let me ask you: What do you think they would do? Do you think they would also be childhood friends?
MeinMMO: Oh, honestly, I would say yes. Because I believe the chemistry between the two and their entire connection exists on a very special level that could even define their fate in Eorzea.
Naoki Hamaguchi: But who would Cloud admire as a hero in the world of Final Fantasy 14 and say: “I leave my home to be like him”? Who would that be?
MeinMMO: Well, maybe the Warrior of Light? I think he would also be a decent Warrior of Light himself.
Naoki Hamaguchi: That’s possible. I think the possibilities are just endless. When talking about Cloud and Tifa, who grew up together in Nibelheim – what if they had that background and were placed into the world of 14? You can somewhat imagine how they would adapt to that. But if they were born in the world of 14… well, they would probably be completely different people.
To shift the topic a bit: After the announcement of Revelation at the Summer Game Fest, I actually attended a fan event in China. There were quite a few young fans of the “Final Fantasy 7 Remake” series, especially teenagers and fans in their twenties, and I saw how passionately they engaged with their self-created works discussing alternate realities. And I thought: “That’s a great idea.” The entertainment industry is something wonderful.
And I know there is a large fan base for Final Fantasy 14 as well. So the next time I’m at a fan community event like that and they discuss their ideas for alternate realities, I will ask them: “What do you think Cloud and Tifa’s life would be like if they had been born in Eorzea?”
MeinMMO: I would also like to hear the answers to that.
Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold and Final Fantasy VII: Revelation will both be released in spring 2027. Both games feature epic, emotional stories. In another interview with the Brazilian Omelete, Director Naoki Hamaguchi revealed how emotionally touched he is by the new installment: Developer completes his own game 40 times, cries with each run
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