Final Fantasy 7's Future in Fortnite Is Unclear, but There’s Hope
Overview & Key Takeaways
In an interview, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi discussed the franchise's relationship with Fortnite, including future plans.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi spoke about Square Enix's relationship with Fortnite in a recent interview. Although he didn't directly answer whether Final Fantasy characters would eventually be part of Fortnite's extensive roster of skins, some hope lingers among fans. He also shared a fun detail about the inspiration for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's parachuting mechanic.
Fortnite's latest season, Chapter 7 Season 4, has two main themes: video games and hacking. Combining the two made it possible for Epic Games to bring an array of new video game IPs to its Battle Royale. This season, players can snag cosmetics inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot, Mega Man, and Spyro. There are many more to come, with confirmed upcoming appearances from Kingdom Hearts' Sora and Persona 5's Joker.
In a recent interview with Vice, Hamaguchi discussed the Kingdom Hearts collab with Fortnite, and when asked if any Final Fantasy 7 characters would ever be in Fortnite, he provided an intriguing answer:
"What I can say right now is that, looking back at the history of Final Fantasy 7, fans might notice this, but we haven’t had a lot of very major collaborations with other IPs. This is mostly because we wanted to be selective to protect the brand of Final Fantasy 7. But what I can say now is that we are, you know, considering a lot of, you know, different collaborations at the moment. So, you know, whether Fortnite is included in the list of potential collaboration partners, that’s something for the fans to look forward to."
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Hamaguchi would like to see a Barret skin in Fortnite
This isn't a resounding "no," which left fans feeling hopeful for the future. It seems that Square Enix is open to collaborations, but is still not sure how they'd want to approach a possible partnership with Fortnite. He also commented that he would choose Barret as his character for a Fortnite appearance, since it'd be fun to see how his machine-gun arm could be used in the Battle Royale.
Before the interview came to a close, Hamaguchi shared a detail that Fortnite and Final Fantasy 7 fans will both enjoy. In the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, players will be able to parachute from the Highwind onto the map. This mechanic was inspired by Fortnite. To get to the Battle Royale island, players jump off the Battle Bus and glide down to their preferred location — they will be able to do the same in FF7 Revelation.
