Today marks the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII, which originally launched for the PlayStation 1 back on 31 January 1997.

To commemorate the occasion, Final Fantasy VII director and Final Fantasy VII Remake project producer Yoshinori Kitase, and Final Fantasy VII character designer and Final Fantasy VII Remake project creative director Tetsuya Nomura have shared message updates (via Twitter).

Yoshinori Kitase

“This year marks the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII. It also marks the 35th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series itself, which means that Final Fantasy VII was born in the 10th year of that 35 year long history.

Personally, I had always thought of Final Fantasy VII as a recent game, but it has actually now become one of the games from the ‘early series.’ Even so, we were honored last year when it was voted as the third most popular game ever by gamers in a (Japanese) TV poll. That we could achieve something like that is very much thanks to all the support we have had from our fans over the long years. Thank you so much.

Final Fantasy VII has re-emerged as the latest game in the series once again, with titles like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, and you can look forward to even more exciting new developments in the future!”

Yoshinori Kitase
Final Fantasy VII Director and Final Fantasy VII Remake Project Producer

Tetsuya Nomura

“With the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII this year, the game has now existed for a quarter-century. I am truly grateful to all the fans who have loved Final Fantasy VII over these 25 years, and thanks to your support, Cloud has never felt far away over that time.

Continuing on from the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier has also now opened for service, and next we have Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis waiting in the wings too. With all of these exciting new projects, I get a release sense of how more and more people are supporting Final Fantasy VII. Not just the fans from the original game, but also those who never experienced it are being drawn to the unique world of Final Fantasy VII.

“And there will be even more new Final Fantasy VII projects that started up after the remake coming in the future too. The team see this 25th anniversary as a waypoint on our journey with Final Fantasy VII, and will continue pressing ahead to even greater things, so please keep supporting us going forward!”

Tetsuya Nomura,
Final Fantasy VII Character Design, etc. and Final Fantasy VII Remake Project Creative Director

In the meantime, head on over here for our review of Final Fantasy VII Remake, or check out our separate review for the Episode Intermission DLC with Yuffie.