Final Fantasy 7 Modding Community Defies Director’s Takedown Warning with Defiant New Releases
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: Modding Community to Ignore "Offensive" or "Inappropriate" Content
The wait is almost over for PC gamers, as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is set to arrive on January 23, 2025. With its release, we can expect the modding community to come alive, and along with it, the debate about what’s considered "offensive" or "inappropriate" content.
In a recent interview, Naoki Hamaguchi, the game’s director, has asked modders to keep their creations "clean" and respectful. While this may be a noble intention, it’s a tall order, given the history of nude mods in the Final Fantasy series. Let’s face it, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is no exception. The game’s character design seems to lean heavily into the whole "swimsuit edition" theme, and while it’s a long way from full frontal nudity, the possibility of going the full monty is hardly unprecedented in video games.
The Modding Community Responds
The Final Fantasy 7 community is responding to Hamaguchi’s request with a mix of humor and skepticism. A redditor quipped that his request is like asking the sky not to be blue, while another suggested that mods will only focus on "TAA" (temporal anti-aliasing) initially, but will eventually move on to "quality-of-life" improvements.
A Pattern in the Industry?
This isn’t the first time a developer has taken issue with "inappropriate" mods on PC. In 2015, Team Ninja warned modders to be "good and moral" with Dead or Alive 5 mods, but as we all know, that lasted about 24 hours. Final Fantasy 15 director Hajime Tabata said similarly that it’s up to the "moral sense" of the community, but it’s clear he was a bit uneasy about where that sense would lead. Just recently, Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida asked modders to please refrain from creating "offensive or inappropriate" content, but we all know what happens next.
Capcom’s Lack of Standards
On the other hand, we have Capcom, which seems to have no issue with modding, as evidenced by the revealing Resident Evil 2 thong mod that made Mr. X become Mr. Sex. Clearly, there’s no set industry standard on this one.
The Bottom Line
In the end, PC gaming is all about doing it your way, and nude mods are a huge part of that. So, while Hamaguchi’s request for respect and restraint is admirable, it’s unlikely to be heeded. As the old adage goes, "you can’t have one without the other," so it’s time to embrace the chaos and let the modding community do its thing. After all, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is set to arrive on January 23, 2025, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what happens on January 24.
