Final Fantasy VII Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi has offered an explanation for why the physical disc version of the game on PlayStation 5 and Xbox requires a download to play.

Earlier this month it emerged that the physical version of Final Fantasy VII Revelation on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X comes on a single disc and requires an internet connection to download other parts of the game. The first two games in the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy, Remake and Rebirth, come on two discs: one for installation and one for play. Switch 2 owners get Final Fantasy VII Revelation on a game-key card.

This sparked a backlash among some fans who had hoped for Final Fantasy VII Revelation to be playable without an update, like its predecessors in the long-running franchise. “The game not getting a proper physical release on any platform is the only detail that should be discussed,” commented X / Twitter account Does it play?, which advocates for physical media and has campaigned for video game preservation. “What were you thinking, in all honesty?”

In a new interview with IGN, Hamaguchi suggested that even if Square Enix released Revelation on the same number of discs as Rebirth, it would still have had to “compromise” on the quality of the game. So, the “only choice” it had was to release the game on a single disc with a forced download to play.

“First and foremost, personally, I’m very happy that we are able to release a physical disc version of FFVII Revelation considering how the entire gaming market, or the landscape, is veering towards the disc-less direction,” Hamaguchi said, referencing Sony’s controversial decision to end production of PlayStation discs from 2028.

“And after we launched preorders, we did see some fans voicing their concerns and raising questions about the physical discs requiring some internet download. So I would like to address that.

“When we had an internal discussion with the development team about how we wanted to approach the physical discs and the physical releases of FFVII Revelation, initially there were conversations about using the same disc size as we did for, say, FFVII Rebirth. But if we were to do that, it would mean that we would have to make a compromise in terms of the fidelity and the quality of the game. So as a development team, we didn’t want to do that. We didn’t want to make any compromises for the game. So realistically, the only choice that we had was to release this physical disc, but with certain sections of the game being a digital download format through the physical disc.”

Hamaguchi went on to acknowledge fan complaints around this, but insisted he’s happy with where Square Enix ended up on the issue.

“With that being said, I completely understand that not all players might be happy with this decision, but at the same time, I am happy that we were still able to release a physical format of the game,” he said. “So I am quite satisfied with the end results as well. I would hope that our fans and players would be able to share that as well.”

Final Fantasy VII Revelation is due out across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch 2, on April 8, 2027.