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Coronavirus puts Final Fantasy VII Remake arrival out of Square Enix’s control

Aaron Mamiit
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The April 10 release date of the highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake is still on track, but Square Enix flagged possible delays in the RPG’s arrival to gamers who have been waiting for the game since it was first announced at E3 2015.

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In a blog post, Square Enix said that the measures being implemented by authorities to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, will likely affect the distribution of physical copies of the Final Fantasy VII Remake in Western regions. While gamers may look at the RPG as one of the landmarks of modern gaming, in terms of fighting the pandemic, the game falls under nonessential items, which are being restricted to give way to the delivery of essential items such as personal protective equipment and other medical supplies.

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“This does not mean that box copies of Final Fantasy VII Remake will not be dispatched, it just means that we cannot control the date the game may arrive,” Square Enix said.

Square Enix is making arrangements to make sure that pre-orders from the Square Enix Store will reach players by April 10. However, for those who pre-ordered the game from retail stores, they are advised to check the stores’ websites about the status of their pre-orders, and if pick-up and/or delivery options will be offered.

Final Fantasy VII Remake breaks street date

Square Enix is concerned that the physical copies of the Final Fantasy VII Remake will reach players too late, but it appears that some players have acquired the game ahead of its official release date.

Several players have claimed on the RPG’s unofficial sub-Reddit that they received the game early, following an image posted by a person who goes by the handle NateLo22 of the contents of the Final Fantasy VII Remake Deluxe Edition.

It appears that certain stores are shipping out copies of the game early to circumvent restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This may be a big deal for fans who do not want spoilers from the RPG — while it generally follows the same story as the original Final Fantasy VII, some players want to experience everything themselves instead of reading about it from others.

While waiting for their physical copies to arrive, fans may want to keep playing the Final Fantasy VII Remake demo, and perhaps even try to do a speedrun while they are at it.

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Aaron Mamiit
Aaron Mamiit
Contributor
Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…
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