After being in development for years as well as getting delayed, Final Fantasy VII Remake will finally release next week, and eager fans of the game will get the chance to re-experience it in a complete remake from the ground up.
But although the game is scheduled to release on April 10, there have been multiple reports stating that some players have been able to get early physical copies. For instance, players who live in Australia have reported that the game is already out and that they can purchase it from their local stores. Additionally, Square Enix itself has stated that it would be shipping out early physical copies of Final Fantasy VII Remake in Australia and Europe due to the current Coronavirus situation. However, all of the reports only apply to physical copies, so one might be wondering what the process will be for digital copies.
For players who have pre-ordered a digital version of Final Fantasy VII Remake, they can start pre-loading the game right now, but will not be able to access it as early as players who have a physical copy. The information comes from Square Enix in which it has clarified the reason why digital owners will not be able to start playing the game as early as physical owners. "[...] the bulk of our shipments to retailers around the globe are still scheduled to arrive in stores for our April 10 street date," a Square Enix representative explained on the website's support page. "[...] changing the digital release date at this point-in-time could lead to logistical issues that could disrupt the digital launch for everyone [...]."
Simply put, changing the digital version's release date, on top of already breaking the physical version's street date, would cause logistical chaos and basically make things a total nightmare in regards to distribution agreements. Although this may not be the news digital players would like to hear, the game will officially release on April 10, meaning that everything has been scheduled and the possibility of yet another delay is nonexistent.
In the meantime, fans still have the demo to keep themselves busy while they have to wait one more week for the game.
Source: Square Enix, Destructoid