Final Fantasy VII Remake shipping “far earlier than usual” to Europe and Australia due to coronavirus disruptions

Final Fantasy VII Remake will ship “far earlier than usual” to Europe and Australia due to the disruption to distribution channels caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, Square Enix producer Yoshinori Kitase and director Tetsuya Nomura announced in a message.

“As a result, there is a greater chance that some of you in these regions will now get a copy of the game prior to the worldwide release date of April 10,” Kitase and Nomura said. “For other western regions, including the Americas, copies will be shipped this week and we feel optimistic that most of you will receive the game for launch day.”

The developers ask that, despite being a remake of a game released in 1997, that users who receive the game early not spoil it for others, as it still “has many surprises for everyone.”

Get the full message below.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake team have worked extremely hard to make this game and we are incredibly proud of what you are about to play. Our biggest motivator during the development was that so many of you were willing us on, and we felt your enthusiasm and passion every step of the way.

We had some hard decisions to make during the final few weeks before launch due to disruption to distribution channels caused by the spread of the COVID-19 virus. These unique circumstances have made it very difficult to align timing of our global shipping. Our highest priority is that all of you, including those who live in countries currently facing the biggest disruption, can play the game at launch, so we made the decision to ship the game far earlier than usual to Europe and Australia.

As a result, there is a greater chance that some of you in these regions will now get a copy of the game prior to the worldwide release date of April 10. For other western regions, including the Americas, copies will be shipped this week and we feel optimistic that most of you will receive the game for launch day. However, due to the challenging situation we cannot provide delivery dates for each country and each retailer.

We really want all of you looking forward to Final Fantasy VII Remake to play the game on April 10 and experience everything we have been working on, together.

To everyone we would like to ask one big favor.

If you get the game early, please think of others and don’t spoil it for them. We know there are potential spoilers that have been out there for over two decades as the original Final Fantasy VII was released in 1997. But Final Fantasy VII Remake is a new game that still has many surprises for everyone. All our fans and players deserve to experience the game for themselves, and we ask for the support of our dedicated community around the world to ensure that.

On behalf of the entire development team, and everyone around the world that has worked on getting Final Fantasy VII Remake to you all, thanks again for your support, and most importantly, please stay safe.

—Yoshinori Kitase (Producer) and Tetsuya Nomura (Director)
Final Fantasy VII Remake

Final Fantasy VII Remake is due out for PlayStation 4 on April 10 worldwide. A demo is available now via the PlayStation Store.