Final Fantasy VII Finale Gets a Release Date
A showcase with no GTA 6 gameplay, and players are fighting over a pair of controllers
On the evening of September 3, Sony shoved nearly an hour of State of Play in players' faces. No God of War, no GTA 6 gameplay, not even a trace of Devil May Cry 6 — the chat scrolled past with a wave of “that's it?”. But the moment two controllers stamped with the GTA 6 logo appeared, the comments still exploded — priced at $84.99. EGW did the math: that's $5 more than the game's standard edition.
The showcase actually packed a decent amount of news. Insomniac's Marvel's Wolverine dropped its final launch trailer — it hits PS5 on September 15, just 10 days away; Until Dawn 2 is set for January 28, 2027 as a PS5 exclusive; 4A Games' Metro 2039 is locked in for February 2027. Closing out the show was Final Fantasy VII: Revelation — the finale of the trilogy, with 10 minutes of gameplay and a release date of April 8, 2027 (source: 17173, 2026-09-04). The Japanese segment didn't sit idle either: Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3 is dated for 2027, Fate/Extra Record for January 28 next year, Gundam Rogue Orbit for March 5 next year; Konami unveiled two new in-house titles at once, including Rhapsody in Scarlet, an action game about mages in 1920s New York. Just looking at the lineup, it's enough to chew on for two years.
But what players remember is the controller. GTA 6 itself didn't show up — its merchandise did: two limited-edition DualSense models in black and white, on sale November 19 at $84.99, with pre-orders opening September 10. Collectors shout “just go for it,” pragmatists curse it as “pure tax on IQ” — the controller has no new features, it's just a skin, so why should it cost more than the game itself? One top comment has stuck with me: “Spending $85 to touch GTA 6 early is probably the closest I'll ever get to it.” Brutal, and true.
This show also carried an awkward subtext: the most spammed comment wasn't about a new game, it was “Where's Destiny 3?” But Bungie was just exposed in May for abandoning the Destiny franchise. Fans are still waiting for a sequel that its own creator killed — that mismatch is even more wistful than the $85 controller.
Why would GTA 6 only show off a controller? Because Rockstar never releases material at someone else's event — even the last trailer it dropped itself — and all Sony can get is the licensing merchandise. Turn anticipation into a product and harvest a wave of nostalgia first; both sides know how to run that math. Besides, the PS5 has reached the tail end of its life cycle: Wolverine launches September 15, nearly the last exclusive card of the year, so Sony needs limited-edition hardware to keep the console's heat up — and to probe players' tolerance for paying toward GTA 6 in the process. If the controller sells, the base game's pricing has more confidence. Not exactly brilliant, but shrewd enough.
Following the thread, September's release schedule is already packed like a waterfall: The Blood of Dawnwalker just launched on September 3, Wolverine takes over on September 15, and the recently released Onimusha: Way of the Sword has its reviews lifted — Game Informer is calling this month “pre-pre-GTA VI month.” The big studios are all routing around GTA 6's release window; nobody wants to be cannon fodder.
But I have to pour some cold water. The more lively this show is, the more it shows console gaming is propping itself up on existing IP and limited-edition hardware. It's been nearly 30 years since Final Fantasy VII's first encounter in Midgar in 1997, and Cloud is still hacking away at Sephiroth; Wolverine, Metro, Until Dawn — all new sequels to familiar faces. New IP? Rare as phoenix feathers. When the industry won't take risks, players can only keep paying for nostalgia. The $85 controller is a collectible, but also a reminder: the most valuable thing in this industry is shifting from “new surprise” to “old memory.”
To be honest, I'll still pay for the Final Fantasy VII finale — April 8, 2027, as long as it doesn't get delayed again. But I'd also like a showcase that makes me yell “holy crap, what is this,” not one where I unbox a crate of limited skins. So here's the question: are you going to spring for the $85 GTA 6 controller? Pick a side in the Gghubs comments, and take a guess at when we'll finally actually get to play GTA 6.