Final Fantasy 7 Remake doesn’t cover all of the events of the original Final Fantasy 7. Instead, it only covers the events of Cloud’s first outing in Midgar and leaves the rest of the FF7 story up to future installments in the Remake series.
Thus, in order to flesh itself out into a full-length game, Final Fantasy 7 Remake features story elements that don’t happen in the original title, and these elements extend into its ending as well. And the changes are significant enough that they make Midgar’s end in Remake different from that of the original Final Fantasy 7.
As a result, rumors are going around saying that Square Enix might be removing Youtube videos featuring the end of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. YouTubers posting up play-throughs of the title have reported that any videos they put up displaying the ending have received copyright strikes. Some have even said that disputing these claims has left them at risk of being sued by Square Enix.
However, it’s important to note that why exactly some videos have received strikes remains a mystery. Square Enix hasn’t exactly confirmed that it’s doing this, and it also hasn’t warned content creators about posting FF7 Remake’s ending online recently. But because the copyright claims only seem to be attacking the game’s ending, the rumor believes that the strikes are happening to prevent potential spoilers.
In defense of the rumor, the ending scene is the only one in the game blocked from recording. However, the game has been out for two weeks — longer, even, in some countries. Spoilers shouldn’t be too big of an issue at this point — at least not enough for Square to start targeting specific videos. But if the company is, knowing the timeframe of when the struck videos were posted is rather important.
As stated before, Remake released early in some countries. But it only did so because the coronavirus forced Square Enix’s hand. So at the time, the publisher asked fans not to spoil the game’s events online. This request could be considered the company’s pseudo-warning. So any videos of Remake’s ending posted near the game’s official launch — including those posted a week out from it — probably were taken down by Square.
Regardless, there are still videos on YouTube showing off the game’s ending for anyone that wants to view it. Content creators should also be able to stream it without any issues. Although, if the rumor is true, Square Enix will more than likely nuke the resulting steam vods.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now for the PlayStation 4.
