Why was Final Fantasy VII Rebirth made in 3 years? Square Enix's answer

According to trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi, the main secret is team retention. Over 80% of the staff who worked on Final Fantasy VII Remake stayed to make Rebirth, and over 95% of the Rebirth team continued to work on Rebirth.

As journalist Jason Schreier noted, this is a rarity in the industry. Usually, after a project is completed, developers are transferred to other teams or new games. In the case of the Final Fantasy VII remakes, most specialists have been working on the series since 2020.

Square Enix believes that high team retention allowed them to maintain a fast development pace. For modern AAA games, which are increasingly taking 5–7 years to create, this approach has become a significant advantage.