FF7 Rebirth has reportedly sold half what Remake did in the same timeframe

[Wman1996]

Tober said:

Given how the older FF games are being repackaged/remastered and re-released and sold on multiple platforms for decades now, I see the eventual FF7 trilogy be an evergreen going on for years to come.

They need to make the third entry no matter what, but could downscope it a bit if they don't want to spend $150m+ on the finale. SE has shown it can work on 2 FF games at the same time with FF716 and Rebirth, so I don't think working on FF7 part 3 will delay a FF17 title.

SE might have to rely on Part 3 being the least padded. 

Remake adapted about 20% of the OG's playthrough, but that first 20% is more script-heavy proportionally. Rebirth was about the next 40% which would make Part 3 about another 40%. Remake was padded massively in the story and side quest department to make a full game. Rebirth has a lot of padding as well, despite adapting more of the original.

Cancelling Part 3 would probably be a bad idea, but the budget (and likely length) of the game will have to be reduced. Part 3 could probably be a little longer than Remake in story and side content, but it's going to have to be smaller than Rebirth. SE probably wanted most of Rebirth's regions to all in Part 3, but I don't know if they can anymore. Developing new side content for them takes time and labor which adds to the cost. 

Alternatively, SE allocated most of the budget for the Remake a while ago most likely. Perhaps they'll stick to the vision no matter what even after Rebirth's underwhelming sales and some outright failures at SE.