Final Fantasy VII Revelation Gets April 8, 2027 Release Date — Highwind, FITS, Party Switching and Two Story DLCs Explained

Final Fantasy VII Revelation launches April 8, 2027, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC, and Square Enix used today’s State of Play to show considerably more than a release date. The new gameplay deep dive covers Highwind exploration, a new FITS combat system, instant character switching, quest choices that shift based on which party member handles them, and two upcoming story DLCs.

Square’s own announcement confirms the April 8 date “across PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, XBOX Series X|S and PC” — all four platforms are locked to the same day, not a PS5-first date awaiting separate confirmation elsewhere. It’s a firmer date than the “Spring 2027” window Square gave back in June, and it lands Revelation as the final entry in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, closing the story that began in Remake and continued through Rebirth — not the end of the wider Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

The Highwind Opens Up the World

Square describes Revelation as set in “a vast open world realized on an unprecedented scale,” with the airship Highwind giving players new ways to explore the planet. That’s the confirmed framing: greater freedom to travel the open world by air compared to Rebirth, not a promise that every location from the original 1997 game is accessible from the start or that traversal is entirely unrestricted. Square hasn’t detailed exactly how landing and direct control work, so treat specifics beyond “explore the planet via the Highwind” as still to be shown.

Piko Fights Alongside the Party Now

The chocobo companion Piko returns, and this time does more than carry the party around. Square’s wording is specific: Piko “serves as both a mount and combat ally” and “will grow stronger alongside the party, gaining new capabilities that assist during both traversal and battle.” That’s a real expansion from fast-travel tool into something that fights alongside the team — Square hasn’t called Piko a permanent party member, just a companion with growing traversal and combat abilities.

FITS Gives the Party Four Specialized Combat Roles

The Function-Integrated Tactical Suitwear system, or FITS for short, is the deep dive’s biggest mechanical reveal. Square describes it as bestowing “new abilities and greater heights of power through the specialized roles of Warrior, Knight, Black Mage and Summoner.” The footage specifically shows Cid wearing the Knight FITS and Vincent wearing the Summoner FITS — and notably, Square lists Cid and Vincent as new playable characters for Revelation, meaning both join the roster of characters you directly control rather than staying support-only.

FITS evokes classic Final Fantasy job specialization — swapping a character’s combat role, abilities and appearance around a defined archetype is what job systems do. But Square hasn’t used “job system” as its own terminology, and there’s no indication yet that FITS works like permanent class selection or full respecs. Treat it as its own system until Square says otherwise.

Instant Party Switching and Grappling Traversal

Square’s exact wording: “Players can freely swap their active, controlled character, as well as their party makeup, at any time while exploring the world.” That scope matters — it’s confirmed for exploration, not stated as a combat-time feature, so don’t assume you’re freely reshuffling your whole party mid-battle based on this wording alone.

Traversal also gets a new grappling gun, which Square says lets players “quickly scale rooftops and nimbly zip through the environment.” The footage demonstrates it in urban, rooftop-heavy settings; Square hasn’t said every character handles it identically.

Quest Choices Can Change Specific Story Situations

One of the more interesting systems: “By choosing which party members undertake certain quests, players can customize their narrative experience, impacting how certain events and scenarios unfold.” That’s a real, confirmed system — but it’s specifically scoped to how certain events and scenarios play out, not a promise of multiple endings, romance-specific outcomes, permanent character deaths, or branching main campaigns. Square is describing variation within specific story situations, not canon divergence.

Queen’s Blood Returns With a Red XIII Storyline

The card minigame is back with, per PlayStation’s own description, “a major new storyline centered on Red XIII” — new opponents and gameplay challenges that “expand upon the strategic card game’s mechanics,” including opponents capable of dramatically altering how a match flows. Square hasn’t detailed the actual content of that storyline, so there’s nothing here about what it means for Red XIII in the main plot.

Two Story DLCs Are Already Planned

The Premium and Premium Plus editions include a Story Expansion Pass, and Square has actually named what it covers this time: two story-centered DLCs, officially billed as “Featuring Sephiroth and Vincent & the Turks.” Per Square’s own release notes, “Story DLC 1 and Story DLC 2 are planned to be released between Winter 2027 and Spring 2028,” sold separately at launch and individually purchasable after their respective releases — with the standard caveat that content and timing are subject to change.

Digital Premium ($99.99) includes the Story Expansion Pass, the Reclaimant Choker, a Survival Set of consumables, and 24-hour early access — eligible buyers can start a day before April 8, not that the release date has effectively moved for everyone. Premium Plus ($109.99) adds a digital art book, digital mini soundtrack, the Polydroid Alexander summon materia, the Nymphwing Bracelet and the Risk Taker’s Choker. The Mecha-Chocobo & Moogle summon materia is the pre-order incentive across editions.

The Physical Edition Comes With an Important Catch

Buying the boxed copy doesn’t mean the whole playable game is on the disc or cartridge. Square Enix’s own store listing spells out the requirement platform by platform: for both PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, “an internet connection is required to download additional game data in order to play the physical version of the game.” PS5’s physical release ships on a single Blu-ray disc rather than reusing the multi-disc format Square used for Rebirth’s physical release — there simply isn’t room on one disc for the full game, so the rest arrives as a mandatory day-one download.

Nintendo Switch 2’s physical edition works differently again: it’s a Game-Key Card rather than a cartridge holding the actual game data. Square’s listing is specific here too — “the game data must be downloaded when launching the title for the first time,” requiring an internet connection and at least 130GB of free storage.

The practical takeaway is the same across all three platforms: the physical box gets you the game and, on Deluxe editions, its extras, but not a fully self-contained copy you can install and play without ever connecting to the internet.

What’s Still Unknown

Square hasn’t detailed exact Highwind controls, how far combat-time party switching extends beyond the confirmed exploration use, the full playable roster, or anything about what Story DLC 1 and Story DLC 2 actually depict beyond their announced subjects. Today’s reveal was about systems and the release date — the rest is still to come before April.