Square Enix explains why Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is exclusive to the PS5

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is only available for the PlayStation 5. Developer Square Enix explains why the second part of the remake is no longer available for the PS4.

Travel comfortably through Midgar – that’s only possible on the PS5, says Square Enix

The reason is the speed of the SSD hard drive, which they want to exploit on Sony’s newer console. In an interview with the Japanese publication gamers the game’s producer explained, but that wasn’t the only factor in the decision.

“It’s exclusive to the PlayStation 5, obviously because of the graphical quality and SSD access speed,” says producer Kitase. “Because the adventure after Escape from Midgar takes place in a huge world, loading stress is an extreme bottleneck. We felt that we needed the PlayStation 5 specs to overcome that and travel the world comfortably.”

The faster SSD has been positioned by Sony as one of the key features of its next generation of consoles and, according to architect Mark Cenry, will not only affect load times, it will also change the way developers can build their game worlds for PS5-exclusive games.

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According to Kitase, the game progresses at an “amazingly fast pace for such a large HD title”. “Making the middle part of a trilogy has its own challenges, but there are many classic second parts in the film world that feature stunning story twists and deeper exploration of their characters. Often times, these second parts become fan favorites,” he says.

As Creative Director Tetsuya Nomura says, players should be able to enjoy the title even if they haven’t played or watched the original game.