Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy overlord Naoki Hamaguchi can't believe he got to share the Gamescom stage with his hero, Geralt of Rivia – in spirit, at least, since developer CD Projekt Red used Opening Night Live 2026 to announce its unexpected The Witcher 3 refresh and expansion. And The Witcher 4 lead level designer Miles Tost feels the same way.
"The pleasure was ours," Tost writes in an August 26 Twitter reply to Hamaguchi. "Final Fantasy, especially 7 have a special place in my heart and I'm so happy I get to relive that through your and your team's hard work!"
Originally, Hamaguchi wrote on Twitter after Opening Night Live (ONL), "Sharing the final spotlight at ONL alongside The Witcher 3, one of my favorite games of all time, was a truly special moment for me. It was a great honor to stand on the same stage as a game that has inspired me for so many years."
It's rare that you see developers as seemingly untouchable as Square Enix's Hamaguchi show that, in the cocoon of their living rooms, they're still fans who feel that knot of excitement forming each time a certain title screen comes up. It's nice!
Hamaguchi has always been generous in sharing his love for The Witcher franchise, though, spending the past few years emphasizing that The Witcher 3 is one of his major Final Fantasy 7 remake inspirations. In 2024, Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase even told fans that, while watching that year's Witcher 4 trailer at The Game Awards, "Hamaguchi was so excited when Ciri removed her hood, he almost stood up!"
So I'm especially glad for him to be at Gamescom this year, where he was also recently able to meet CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michał Nowakowski and show him some of Square Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. Hamaguchi says on Twitter about the experience, "It was a great honor to have Michał Nowakowski, Joint CEO of CD PROJEKT RED, stop by the Square Enix booth.
"Sharing the stage at ONL alongside The Witcher 3, one of my all-time favorite games, was already a special moment. Having Michał come by in person made it even more memorable.
"I was also very happy to tell him directly that The Witcher 3 continues to be one of the biggest inspirations for me as a game creator." Let us pray, now, for Hamaguchi's sake, that the new The Witcher 3 expansion Songs of the Past is just as sweet as he probably thinks it is when it launches in 2027.
Keep up with the entire Gamescom 2026 schedule.
