If I just liked the first part well enough, I would've played the waiting game. I got Remake as part of PS Plus Essential in March 2021 and it's one of my favorite games. Rebirth is really high up too, and I got that at launch. Suffice to say, I'm getting this one at launch.

I agree with you.  I hate the push to all digital, even though I really liked Rebirth as a game.  Where I'm at with it is that a) I own a Switch 2 instead of PS5 (so a few games are still going to be physical going forwared) and b) for Revelation I will buy the GCK for Switch 2 and resell it at some point, because there is no point owning a GCK long term.

I do believe that that SE is leaving money on the table by not having a 100% physical version for the Deluxe/Collector's edition.  That would be one way to solve the problem, because there are people like me who would pay more just to have a physical version of the complete game.  But I'm personally not buying the special version of the game because there is no physical copy.  This is really the way for companies to have their cake and eat it too.  They have higher profit margins on digital versions, and they would also get higher margins on physical versions if they are marketed as a Deluxe version.  Instead, they are forcing me to resell the version that I get, which is what these companies wanted to avoid in the first place, but now it becomes a guarantee.

Let's wait for the file size lol. This game might need at least 3 dual-layered BD discs, which I guess is still very cheap to produce, but maybe not in the new economy with production plants closing and all that crap.

The Switch 2 version would have needed at least 150GB of cartridge capacity for all we know. That's like $50 dollars on cartridge costs alone...

Revelation lets you explore the entire Rebirth world in addition to new locations and a downsized Midgar. Rebirth came at 145GB on PS5 and a 100 GB on Switch 2 lol. Shoving Revelation into a single 64GB cartridge seems impossible without some serious compromises...

Edit:

Switch 2 version's file size is apparently around 130GB.

https://www.square-enix-games.com/en_US/news/final-fantasy-vii-revelation-launches-april-8-2027

Slightly lower than I expected, but it is a big boy! We can extrapolate from this that the PS5 version may fit into 2 discs at somewhere between 170GB and 200GB.

It definitely fits into 2 discs like Rebirth did.

They can't even throw a second disc on very expensive collectors editions.

It is, once again, about pushing people to digital so they have bigger shares forever, nothing more, SE was so happy with the news Sony shared about killing physical media they couldn't even wait for it to happen and had to rush to do it before themselves.

Absolutely pathetic.

Discs cost $1 to print. Square Enix is being stupid by making it a download-required disc. I guess I'll buy it because it ends the trilogy. Hopefully I can find a way to get a pirated version stamped onto a Blu-Ray so that my version is complete one day. 

RIP Collector's Edition (PS5/Xbox), gone before some of you even finished reading the last thread update

Went to check the Square Enix store just now and PS5 and Xbox CE are both sitting at "Currently Unavailable." Switch 2's still hanging in there, for now, but I wouldn't sleep on it either.

So if you preordered CE already (Like me) congrats, you get to feel smug for the next seven months. Screenshot it, frame it, tell your grandkids you were there.

If you missed it, Day One and Deluxe are still up, but at this rate I wouldn't be shocked if those start disappearing too. This game hasn't even had a proper release date for two weeks and it's already selling like Sephiroth himself is standing behind the checkout button threatening people. Who knows, maybe they'll add more CE later.

Crew count update: Tifa's corner has turned into prime real estate, if you're still deciding where to stand, that spot's basically selling out fast too.

Keep the "I'm in" replies coming and I'll keep squeezing people on.

Most publishers are pleased about Sony's decision (some will pretend that they aren't). It sucks for the consumer but it's understandable from a business perspective, retailers get a large cut on every physical sale (twice the cut that the platform holder gets). A digital dominated future was inevitable, Sony ditching physical is just accelerating that.

True physical options will disappear soon. GKC is preferable to what Sony is doing and makes perfect sense for Nintendo, but it isn't true physical either, and Nintendo didn't prevent Call of Duty from being a code in a box...

It's a shame SquareEnix chose against including the full game here, but Sony is the main villain and enablers. And again we don't know what all these disruptions in the disc supply chain mean to disc prices. Sony repurposing their largest disc plant may have already caused an increase in BD prices in some sectors, and they're probably not the only manufacturers that are repurposing, closing, or downsizing their factories.

Nevertheless SE should have included the full game at least with the collectors edition, even if it required 3 discs. If pricing is a problem, then make it $20 more expensive. That way they would make as much money from physical as digital per sale.

No, retailers do not get a 40% cut. Jason Schreir had a good source on this a few weeks ago. Retailers get $15 of a $70 sale. 

Btw I do love the stupid false dilemma that pro-digital people give. It's either "retailers are cutting stock because they only make $15" or "Sony is cutting discs because they only make 50% as much revenue as digital". Whether retailers not getting enough money or Sony not getting enough money is the problem the conclusion is always "so it's a good thing that physical is going away". 

IIRC he said retailers take around 30% vs the 15% that goes to platform holders. He only corroborated what others before him said. Who mentioned anything about a 40% cut?

Platform holders and publishers want to eliminate retailer cuts, physical printing/manufacturing costs, and trading/sharing from the equation. COD blatantly chose code in a box over GKC, probably because they don't like the trading/sharing aspect of GKC.

It's crazy that GKC which was frowned upon a coupe of months ago will soon be seen as the best option!