Final Fantasy 7 Remake could be the last big video game of the year

One thing video games have always been good at is allowing the player to escape from the tragedy of everyday life.

Whether it’s the torture of work, the stress of school or just a desire to get away for a bit, video games and its contemporaries in music, film and TV can help us to achieve that. As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic and the strange world we’re all getting adjusted to, we need that escapism now more than ever.

But while we do need the escapism that video games can bring so that they can distract us from the crazy world that we live in, it’s become quite clear in recent days that the Coronavirus is set to have a huge impact on the video game industry for the foreseeable future.

Back at the tail-end of January, fears were cast that some upcoming games would receive minor delays as a result of the virus impeding Chinese developers from helping Western studios to finish games. A common outsourcing practice which has been utilised by many developers for a number of years. However, since then, the impact of the virus has resulted in delays and cancellations of trade and consumers shows PAX and E3, with Gamescom in August also under threat. And, just two days ago we saw the indefinite postponement of arguably two of the biggest games of 2020: The Last of Us Part II and Iron Man VR.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake, a game that has been eagerly anticipated by fans for years and was due to release on April 10th, has seen its release pushed up in numerous countries with many players (myself included) receiving the game a whole week ahead of schedule. The main instigator for the early release of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the indefinite delay to Sony’s big two games, is down to everything that happens once a game is made — the shipping and distribution.

While most publishers and developers continue to work on their titles from home in a safe environment, the same can’t be said for the physical distribution of titles. As a result, there are two choices:

• Release the game in a digitally only format with the possible option of releasing physical copies in a limited number, if at all.
• Or to delay the release until the Coronavirus situation improves exponentially.

The latter is the option Sony choose to go down with The Last of Us Part II and Iron Man VR.

While many players are advocating for the release of the aforementioned games as digital-only titles, for now, the issue for developers and publishers is that doing so would cannibalise their income.

While there’s very few who disagree that the industry as a whole is slowly inching towards a digital-only model, the truth is that games aren’t there yet, unlike other mediums.

Music is a medium that is almost entirely digital-only, while movies — which once relied heavily on creating profit through VHS, DVD and latterly Blu-Ray sales — heavily lean on generating income through subscription models like Netflix and the newly launched Disney +.

The games industry has a great footprint in the digital space thanks to its online stores and services such as PlayStation Now and Xbox Game Pass, but physical sales still make up a hefty percentage of the total sales. And many, myself included, much prefer physical media over digital when it comes to AAA titles.

The delay of The Last of Us Part II and Iron Man VR is a blow to the industry but a sensible call to make considering the current market conditions. With PlayStation’s next hit Ghost of Tsushima due to release at the end of June, it would be hard to see Sucker Punch’s latest game arriving on time. After June, the next big titles that look set to launch are CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk in September as well as big sports titles such as Madden and FIFA from EA, which are also due around the same time, but right now, it’s hard to say as to whether or not these titles will see the light of day this year.

For PC Gamers, they should, in theory, remain largely unaffected due to most vastly favouring digital over physical, with applications like Steam and the Epic Game Store dominating how PC players purchase their games. But the delays for physical copies in the console space may have a knock-on effect for PC. While The Last of Us Part II and Iron Man VR won’t see the light of day on the PC, the release of Cyberpunk 2077 and the potential delay could impact PC players as well.

New Consoles in 2020 or 2021?

One other caveat that is at play here is the full reveal, build-up and launch of Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X — two brand new consoles which are currently slated for release this calendar year.

Again, with issues on getting software out the door, the future release of these two consoles are under threat. Will distribution and production lines be up to scratch in order to ensure that there’s enough in stock to meet demand?

Conversely, will the delay of PS4’s biggest hits impact how Sony handles its software line-up? Especially as it’s widely rumoured that The Last of Us Part II and Ghosts of Tsushima are also set to appear on Sony’s next console as well at some point. Will Sony delay both and launch them as cross-platform titles? Only time will tell.

The full reveal and unveiling of both new consoles and their software line-ups was widely anticipated to be around the time of E3 in June but with that trade show cancelled, both companies are left to make other plans. It’s yet to be seen whether or not they try to hold a digital event or wait until the world has handled the pandemic before holding a briefing as they have done previously. However, if both Microsoft and Sony still intend to launch their new hardware in this calendar year, history tells us that they’ll have to announce their plans within the next couple of months.

How Sony and Microsoft handle their marketing and reveal could be crucial going into the next generation and one slip by either camp could make it difficult to come back from. While previously it looked as though both would launch towards the end of this year, there is now the potential for one console to have its launch delayed, depending on how the Coronavirus impacts software-development, hardware manufacture and distribution processes at both companies and their partners. A console launch date could be delayed and taken out of their hands.

Will Final Fantasy 7 Remake be 2020’s last game?

All of this brings us back to the present. As I play through Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s early hours I can't help but wonder if this will be 2020’s last big physical release. If so, it would make 2020’s Game of the Year battle an interesting one with Half-Life: Alyx, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, DOOM Eternal and the aforementioned Final Fantasy 7 Remake all in the running.

Hopefully, it won’t be. But when we consider the world that we live in and the day-to-day changes and sacrifices we’re all having to make in order to keep everyone safer, it wouldn’t be a complete surprise to see titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel’s Avengers and unannounced titles (looking at you Nintendo) being delayed into 2021 along with the new consoles, just to make sure everyone is a little bit safer in the short and long-term.

Perhaps, this time will allow many of us to concentrate on finally whittling down our backlog of games and provide some welcome focus and exposure on small indie titles which still plan to release digitally over the summer months and beyond.

Even if Final Fantasy 7 Remake is one of the last big physical games of 2020, it shouldn’t be a problem. When the world is in a better condition and we all feel safe again, games will come back. Just be patient.