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One of the big announcements coming out of the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival events in 2026 involved a FFVII Remake raid series called Beyond the Lifestream for the FFXIV Evercold expansion. In addition to the MMORPG Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida and his team working on it, the FFVII remake trilogy team and Director Naoki Hamaguchi are involved in its development. Siliconera got a chance to check in with Hamaguchi to discuss development of the raid series, the upcoming crossover, and remake trilogy characters he’d like to see as possible Triple Triad cards.
Jenni Lada: When did work on the FFXIV FFVII Beyond the Lifestream raid series begin, and how many members of the Remake team have been assisting the MMORPG developers?
Naoki Hamaguchi: I believe it started about a year ago. When Yoshida-san and I were discussing launch timings for our respective titles, we had the idea of collaborating to generate excitement around the entire Final Fantasy franchise together, rather than launching each title one by one. That’s where it all began.
From there, the two teams worked out the details and the crossover content gradually took shape. I can’t share the specific numbers, but a tremendous number of staff members are contributing to the project when we include everyone working on the scenario, art, various assets, and lore supervision. The FFVII team isn’t merely supervising the project—this is more of a project where both teams are bringing their respective strengths together and creating something as one.
Exactly how involved are you in the process and what do you get to help assist on? Will you get to work on the narrative and make suggestions about bosses, or will you also be able to get more into Easter eggs and detailed apparel decisions as well?
Naoki Hamaguchi: As the FFVII team, we’re contributing in a wide variety of areas: the scenario, characters, world-building, and art, as well as providing and supervising various assets. [Motomu] Toriyama-san and the FFXIV writing team have been the central figures in story planning, while Nojima-san is in charge of supervising the overall story, and [Tetsuya] Nomura-san oversees the character designs. We also have ongoing discussions with the FFXIV team regarding various aspects of development, including boss characters, visual presentation, and lore details.
Our role isn’t one where we merely supervise and point out which parts are right or wrong. In many instances, the FFXIV team shared their ideas and we put our heads together to figure out how they might work within the context of FFVII. As such, I think “co-production” better describes our team’s role, rather than “supervision.”
Have you been playing FFXIV as part of the preparation for this FFVII Beyond the Lifestream and, if so, what job and which raid series have you enjoyed most?
Naoki Hamaguchi: We’ve actually been paying attention to FFXIV and its community for quite some time, rather than researching them specifically for the crossover. I have a long-standing relationship with Yoshida-san and have followed FFXIV closely for many years.
This crossover has been a good opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of what kind of experience players are looking for in raid content, and how the FFXIV team fulfills those expectations. However, we did not offer suggestions on how the raid content itself should be created for this crossover. In that regard, we have a great deal of trust in the FFXIV team, who have been creating raids for many years. Rather, we focused on the setting, characters, and lore of FFVII and how those elements might harmonize with the raid experience that the FFXIV team was aiming to create.
In the past, elements of FFVII already appeared in FFXIV, with The Manderville Gold Saucer, the Diamond Weapon, Emerald Weapon, and Ruby Weapon boss fights, and the Fan Fest 2026 Hardy-Daytona mount and Red XIII and Yuffie minions. What did you learn from those additions when preparing for this raid series and how did feedback to those elements influence your creative process?
Naoki Hamaguchi: Elements from FFVII, such as the Gold Saucer and the Weapon boss fights, have been incorporated into FFXIV in various forms over the years. When we look at how players react to those game elements, we get the impression they’re not merely enjoying the visual references or names associated with FFVII; they truly appreciate the setting, characters, and the essences that define FFVII.
This was also very important when we were brainstorming for this raid series. Our goal wasn’t simply to incorporate FFVII elements for the sake of it; rather, we wanted to deliver an experience that gives FFXIV players a taste of why FFVII has been loved for so many years. It’s thanks to all of the FFVII-related content that was already in the game, that we were able to take another step further with this crossover.
What’s interesting is that, whenever we try to do something with FFVII, both the creators and the fans naturally end up taking it very seriously (laughs). That may be one of the charms of the FFVII IP.
We’ve seen Final Fantasy XIV crossovers with other entries in the series like FFIV, FFXI, FFXIII, FFXV, and FFXVI before. How was your research and preparation for the FFXIV FFVII Beyond the Lifestream Raid influenced by these past encounters?
Naoki Hamaguchi: Given that FFXIV had numerous wonderful crossovers in the past, we’re confident in the FFXIV team’s experience and expertise with crossovers.
As for us, the FFVII team’s strengths are storytelling and character portrayal, so we’ve been quite eager to pitch in about those topics. Frankly, we might even be overstepping a bit (laughs). In terms of workload, I’m sure there are areas where the FFXIV teams are supporting us even now. However, the content is getting even more polished as a result, and the FFXIV team has been receptive to our suggestions and working together with us to bring them to life.
With both teams bringing their respective strengths to the table, I have high hopes that this will turn out to be an excellent crossover!
In the FFXIV Echoes of Vana’diel FFXIV Raid Series, we saw Prishe and Shantotto show up, and the initial FFVII teaser image shows both Cloud and Sephiroth. How did you go about discussing possible character cameos and design directions to ensure references to FFVII people and places fit in with the MMORPG’s aesthetic and design?
Naoki Hamaguchi: Our focus wasn’t simply on recreating the characters and locations visually.
FFXIV has its own setting and guidelines, while FFVII also has expressions and tone that should be handled with care. We had numerous exchanges about how to naturally introduce elements of FFVII into the world of FFXIV while being mindful of both titles’ conventions. Notably, there’ve been many great ideas and proposals from the FFXIV team during this crossover, and we’ve often put out our heads together to see how they could work within the context of FFVII.
Throughout this process, what we consistently valued was the essence of FFVII. What makes each character who they are? What gives each location its distinct flavor? We placed greater importance on expressing those essences, rather than mere visual replicas. I can’t go into much detail yet, but I think playing the raid series will give you a sense of how what we consider to be the essence of FFVII.
FFXIV Evercold involves a Fourth Reflection of Hydaelyn that “fell into ruin” that involves gigantic arcane colossi, one location that looked like an industrial area with the same sort of aesthetic as FFVII’s Midgar, and Realmship airships not unlike the Highwind. Will you be able to take advantage of any of the new Evercold expansion elements like, say, the Realmships or new Bastion job, when preparing Beyond the Lifestream?
Naoki Hamaguchi: I’ll refrain from going into detail regarding FFXIV content and Evercold.
I’d just like to note that we aren’t simply bringing in FFVII elements unilaterally; we’re mindful of the setting and experience that FFXIV seeks to portray. As such, during the course of development, the FFVII team has focused on presenting the essence of FFVII. I believe the appeal of both titles are synergizing in an excellent way, so I hope you’ll forward to it!
Which FFVII Remake trilogy characters or enemies would you like to see added as Triple Triad cards in FFXIV?
Naoki Hamaguchi: That’s a tough question (laughs). As someone who’s been involved in creating card games, I can’t help but think about balance.
I’d want Cloud and Sephiroth, of course, but having only those kinds of characters wouldn’t be very interesting. After all, a card game won’t be good if every card is overpowered (laughs). FFVII has so many compelling characters, so I think it would be interesting to see unexpected characters appear as high-rarity cards. For example, I’d be surprised if Corneo were the highest-rarity card, but I might want to try using him at least once.
Final Fantasy XIV is available for the Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the FFXIV FFVII Beyond the Lifestream raid will appear in Evercold after the expansion launches in January 2027. Final Fantasy VII Revelation will come to the Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on April 8, 2027.
