Ahead Of Game’s PC Release, ‘Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’ Director Asks Modders “Not To Create Or Install Anything Offensive Or Inappropriate”
In making a request that even he must admit has absolutely zero real chance of ever being honored, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi has asked players to err away from engaging with “offensive or inappropriate” mods when the game finally hits the PC platform early next year.
Hamaguchi, who served as the co-director for Final Fantasy VII Remake before being promoted to his current role following the stepping down of Tetsuya Nomura as the series’ director, made his appeal during a recent interview with Epic Games regarding Rebirth‘s upcoming PC release.
Following a lengthy discussion revolving around the technical aspects of the port and his thoughts on the Remake trilogy’s story, the director was eventually asked by his host, Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West author Aidan Moher, as to whether Rebirth would be “as mod-friendly” as the previous Remake, with the extensive capabilities of the fan-modding tool 7th Heaven being raised as an example of the customization fans were hoping for.
In turn, Hamaguchi affirmed to Moher and his readers, “While the team has no plans for official in-game mod support, we respect the creativity of the modding community and welcome their creations—though we ask modders not to create or install anything offensive or inappropriate.”
And though the director and his team currently have no plans to add any future content to the PC release of Rebirth, whether in the form of official mod support or “an episodic story as a new DLC” (the latter of the which he admits was ultimately unrealized due to time constraints), he did admit that “if we receive strong requests from players after the release regarding certain matters, we would like to consider them.”
Interestingly, Hamaguchi is but the second Final Fantasy series developer to make such a request in recent months.
Fielding a question from PCGamer‘s Mollie Taylor originally meant for Final Fantasy XVI director Hiroshi Takai regarding which ‘goofy mods’, if any, he would like to see players make for the game’s PC release, producer Naoki Yoshida asserted, “If we said ‘It’d be great if someone made xyz,’ it might come across as a request, so I’ll avoid mentioning any specifics here!”
“The only thing I will say is that we definitely don’t want to say anything offensive or inappropriate,” he added, “so please don’t make or install anything like that.”
Ultimately, while Hamaguchi, Yoshida, and all other developers are free to ask their fans to avoid the creation of such ‘offensive’ mods, the internet is the internet, and there’s very little anyone can do to stem the work of fan creators.
In other words, if someone wants to see Tifa in a skimpier bikini than her Costa Del Sol offering, they will damn sure find a way to make it happen.
At current, the long-awaited PC release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is currently on track to bring the fight to Shinra on January 23rd, 2025.
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