The Final Fantasy VII remake was initially revealed at E3 2015 but in the two years since, there's been no concrete discussions about when the first episode will be released. Well the path towards putting the remake in gamer hands just took a major blow as it was confirmed by Square Enix dev Naoki Hamaguchi that CyberConnect2 was no longer involved and that development was taking place entirely within Square Enix. Referring to it as a "sensitive subject", Hamaguchi stated:
"I’ve taken over the development side of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Up until now, development has progressed by receiving external collaboration, but from here on out, with production and quality in mind, we’re shifting to our in-house organization. This company decision was made wanting to control quality as well as keeping the schedule stable."
Most gaming analysts agree that Square Enix taking over from CyberConnect2 will delay progress as they won't be as familiar with the code and where assets are referenced. Was CyberConnect2's progress so slow that Square Enix decided that even with the time it would take for them to become familiar with the code, they could finish the multi-episode remake faster? It will certainly be interesting to find out CyberConnect2's stance on all this. That is, if there isn't some kind of NDA in place.