When does the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo update release?

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s demo is already a treat. It lets you experience its opening chapter and learn integral pieces of backstory for hero Cloud and his archenemy Sephiroth. Soon, Square Enix is planning to update the demo and give you a reason to boot it up again.

If you haven’t already, the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo is easy enough to download on your PlayStation 5, and it’s worth playing before the update drops. It’s a surprisingly long demo, since it covers the entire Nibelheim flashback detailing Cloud’s return to his hometown, his climb up Mount Nibel with Sephiroth, and the events that drove Sephiroth to become the villain he is now.

Aside from getting a first taste of Rebirth‘s combat and exploration, you get to play as Sephiroth himself, and there’s even a piano in Tifa’s room you can spend time messing about with. The update also promises to be fairly substantial, so you might want to dedicate a second play session if you can’t bring yourself to wait for the full game.

What is the release date for the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth update?

Square Enix has confirmed the update for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s demo will arrive on Wednesday, Feb. 21. That’s just over a week before the full game launches on Feb. 29, with preloading to become available a couple of days beforehand. That’s more than enough time to experience the demo in its entirety if you choose to wait for the update before downloading it.

What is included in the update for the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo?

First of all, the update will make graphical improvements to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s performance mode. Many fans complained about the quality of textures, character models, and lighting in performance mode, which Square Enix promised will not only be fixed in the demo, but the full game as well.

The real meat of the demo, though, comes in the form of another playable segment—one centered around the Junon region. Square Enix hasn’t gone into too much detail about what will appear, but unlike the linear Nibelheim segment, the Junon segment will allow you to roam around a portion of Rebirth‘s open world setting. If the brief teaser shown at the February State of Play is anything to go by, this will include riding on Chocobos, opportunities to play as other party members like Tifa and Red XIII, and a boss fight against the Phoenix summon.

The demo doesn’t feature any exclusive content, so you’re not missing anything if you skip it, but playing it will net you a couple of extra goodies in the full game. The first is a kupo charm accessory that “increases the number of resource items extracted at a set rate,” and the second is a survival set, which is a collection of helpful items like potions and ethers.