Naoki Hamaguchi Confirms His Team Is Making Both Final Fantasy VII Revelation and Kingdom Hearts 4

By CriticalPixel · 2026-09-13

Square Enix just handed fans a reason to pay attention to two of its biggest 2027 releases at once. In a new interview with Deadline, Final Fantasy VII Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi confirmed that his own team, Creative Studio 1, is also the studio building Kingdom Hearts 4. That is not a small detail. Two of the publisher's most anticipated RPGs, both funneled through the same internal team, both due out in the same calendar year. The kind of staffing decision that either signals total confidence in one group of developers or a company spreading its best people dangerously thin.

Kingdom Hearts IV screenshot showing Sora in a vibrant fantasy environment

The interview that confirmed it

Hamaguchi's comment came while discussing what Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu is calling the company's big fight back for 2027. Asked about the year ahead, Hamaguchi told Deadline that Final Fantasy VII Revelation and Kingdom Hearts 4 are the two titles carrying that push, and that both are being developed inside his own studio. Eurogamer picked up the quote and was careful to note the nuance: Hamaguchi runs the studio, he is not taking over Kingdom Hearts 4 creatively. Tetsuya Nomura remains director with Tai Yasue as co-director, so the Sora story is still in the same hands it has always been in.

The release windows make the overlap even more interesting. Final Fantasy VII Revelation is locked for April 8, 2027, closing out the remake trilogy that started with Remake in 2020 and continued through Rebirth. Kingdom Hearts 4 is currently penciled in for the second half of 2027 across PS5, Xbox Series X and S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, meaning Creative Studio 1 will be finishing one massive game while polishing another for a launch just months later. That is the kind of back to back cycle that has burned out entire studios before, and Square Enix is betting its comeback narrative on doing it without anyone cracking.

What one studio juggling both means

Concentrating two flagship RPGs under Creative Studio 1 is either a vote of confidence or a resourcing gamble, and probably both at once. Final Fantasy VII Revelation has been in active development for years with a clear finish line, so shifting attention and staff toward Kingdom Hearts 4 as Revelation wraps up is a logical pipeline move on paper. In practice it means the same producers, engineers, and QA teams that are crunching to finish Cloud's story this cycle are also expected to carry Sora's next chapter across the line a few months later. Square Enix has leaned on shared internal talent before, and it has not always gone smoothly, so fans have every reason to watch how this plays out rather than just cheering the crossover.

Kingdom Hearts IV gameplay screenshot with detailed character models

Community reaction

Reaction on social media so far has been more curious than alarmed, though it is still early and only a handful of replies have rolled in under the original post. One fan pointed out the obvious tension, joking that juggling both projects sounds like a lot of pressure but trusting the studio to pull it off if anyone can. Given how few responses have surfaced in the hours since the interview went up, it is too soon to call this a clear consensus either way. What is clear is that longtime Kingdom Hearts fans, still processing the earlier achievement list leak that surfaced Persona 6 and Kingdom Hearts 4 details together, now have one more piece of the puzzle to obsess over.

CriticalPixel take

Square Enix loves talking about a big fight back, but stacking two of its most scrutinized franchises on one studio's desk is a strange way to project stability. Final Fantasy VII Revelation already carries the weight of closing out a decade long remake project that fans will not forgive a stumble on, and Kingdom Hearts 4 has been public for years without a firm release date until now. Asking Creative Studio 1 to ship both within the same year is either the confidence flex Kiryu wants it to look like or a scheduling decision made in a boardroom that has never had to hit a submission deadline. Nomura staying on as director is the reassuring part of this story. The studio level consolidation is the part worth watching closely before anyone declares 2027 a comeback year.

Kingdom Hearts IV screenshot featuring an expansive game world

Closing

Nothing here changes what either game plays like, but it changes how skeptical fans should be about both hitting their windows cleanly. Final Fantasy VII Revelation still has an April 8, 2027 date to hit, and Kingdom Hearts 4 is aiming for the back half of the same year on four platforms at once. Watch for Square Enix's next earnings call and any further comments from Hamaguchi or Nomura about staffing, because that is where a real answer to how thin Creative Studio 1 is stretched will actually show up.