In the ongoing conversation between gaming's great studios, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi has acknowledged that Fortnite — the battle royale phenomenon — directly shaped one of his game's most ambitious traversal systems. The iconic Highwind airship now lets players leap into open sky and parachute to their destination, a mechanic borrowed not from Final Fantasy's own legacy but from a rival genre entirely. It is a quiet admission that in modern game design, inspiration flows freely across boundaries once thought fixed, and that the walls between franchises are becoming a
Fortnite Inspired Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's Highwind Parachuting Mechanic
That is something we directly took inspiration from Fortnite.
Mark
So Hamaguchi basically said Fortnite taught Final Fantasy 7 how to move people around a bigger map. That's a pretty direct admission.
Mimi
It is. And it makes sense—Fortnite solved that problem years ago. You're in a battle royale, the map is huge, you need to get players from the sky to the ground fast without it feeling clunky. The parachute is elegant. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation needed the same solution.
Luke
But we should be clear about what "inspired" means here. He didn't say they copied the code or the animation. He said the concept—jumping from a vehicle and gliding down—came from watching Fortnite. That's design inspiration, not theft.
Mark
Right. And there's already a relationship between Square Enix and Epic through Kingdom Hearts. So this isn't some random studio looking at Fortnite from the outside.
Mimi
Exactly. They've already worked together. The parachuting mechanic is almost a natural next step in that conversation. One team solves a problem, the other team sees it works and adapts it to their own world.
Luke
The interesting part is that Hamaguchi was willing to say it out loud. A lot of studios borrow from each other quietly. He just... said it.
Mark
And then he started talking about whether Final Fantasy 7 characters might show up in Fortnite. That felt like he was testing the waters.
Mimi
He was being careful, though. He didn't confirm anything. He said they're considering collaborations, but wouldn't name Fortnite specifically. That's the brand protection kicking in.
Luke
Though his comment about Barret was telling. He's clearly thought about which character would fit Fortnite's mechanics. That's not idle speculation—that's someone who's already had the conversation internally.
Mark
So we're probably going to see Final Fantasy 7 skins in Fortnite eventually.
Mimi
Probably. But Square Enix will wait until it feels right, until the timing and the character and the moment all align. That's how they've always operated with this franchise.
Luke
The one thing we don't know is whether Fortnite players actually want Final Fantasy 7 characters, or whether this is just two companies seeing a business opportunity. But that's not really Hamaguchi's job to answer.
The Pulse
- A beloved franchise has openly borrowed a core mechanic from one of gaming's most commercially dominant titles, raising questions about where creative influence ends and imitation begins.
- The Highwind parachuting system exists to solve a real tension: Revelation's world is dramatically larger than its predecessors, and players need a way to move through it that feels alive rather than mechanical.
- Square Enix and Epic Games already share a working relationship through Kingdom Hearts, meaning this mechanic exchange is not an accident but a symptom of a deepening creative alliance.
- Hamaguchi has teased Final Fantasy 7 characters entering Fortnite without confirming anything, carefully protecting the brand's prestige while keeping fan anticipation alive.
- His choice of Barret as the ideal Fortnite crossover character — a man whose arm is literally a gun — suggests any future collaboration will be built on design logic, not just marketing opportunity.
In the ongoing conversation between gaming's great studios, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi has acknowledged that Fortnite — the battle royale phenomenon — directly shaped one of his game's most ambitious traversal systems. The iconic Highwind airship now lets players leap into open sky and parachute to their destination, a mechanic borrowed not from Final Fantasy's own legacy but from a rival genre entirely. It is a quiet admission that in modern game design, inspiration flows freely across boundaries once thought fixed, and that the walls between franchises are becoming as permeable as the skies players now glide through.
Naoki Hamaguchi, director of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, has confirmed that the game's new Highwind parachuting mechanic was directly inspired by Fortnite. Players can now leap from the iconic airship mid-flight and glide down to any point on the map — a system Hamaguchi described as something his team "directly took inspiration from" the battle royale giant.
The mechanic is more than a novelty. Revelation's world is significantly larger than previous entries in the remake trilogy, and the parachuting system offers a way to traverse that expanded space quickly without shattering the game's fiction. It is a practical solution borrowed from an unlikely source.
The admission reflects a broader reality: Square Enix and Epic Games are not strangers. Their existing partnership through the Kingdom Hearts collaboration — which brought Disney and Final Fantasy characters into Fortnite — created a foundation for exactly this kind of creative exchange. Mechanics, it turns out, travel as freely as character skins.
Hamaguchi also hinted at the possibility of Final Fantasy 7 characters appearing in Fortnite itself, though he stopped short of confirming anything. When pressed on which character he imagined fitting Fortnite's world, he chose Barret — the gun-armed soldier whose entire left arm is already a weapon. In a game built around equipping and firing guns, Barret's design is almost native. The observation suggests that if a crossover happens, it will be built on mechanical coherence rather than brand convenience.
No announcement has been made. But the parachuting mechanic is already evidence that these two worlds are in active dialogue — and that the conversation is moving in both directions.
Naoki Hamaguchi, the director steering Final Fantasy 7 Revelation toward completion, sat down to discuss how one of gaming's biggest franchises borrowed a page from another. The Highwind—the iconic airship that has carried players across Final Fantasy worlds for decades—now has a new trick: you can leap from it mid-flight and parachute down to any point on the map below. That mechanic, Hamaguchi explained to VICE, came straight from Fortnite.
The parachuting system represents one of Revelation's most significant traversal additions. The game's world is substantially larger than its predecessors in the remake trilogy, and the ability to fly the Highwind across the landscape and then bail out to glide toward a specific destination solves a practical problem: how to move players quickly through an expanded space without breaking the fiction of the world. Hamaguchi was direct about the inspiration. "The whole parachuting mechanic in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation was inspired by it," he said. "Being on the Highwind and jumping off it to parachute into the map. That is something we directly took inspiration from Fortnite."
The admission speaks to how thoroughly modern game design has become a conversation between studios. Square Enix and Epic Games already maintain a working relationship through the Kingdom Hearts collaboration that brought Disney and Final Fantasy characters into Fortnite's rotating roster of skins. That partnership created a foundation for creative exchange, and the parachuting mechanic is evidence of how that exchange flows both directions—not just licensing characters, but borrowing systems and mechanics that solve design problems.
During the same conversation, Hamaguchi opened the door to a larger possibility: Final Fantasy 7 characters appearing in Fortnite itself. He praised the Fortnite team as collaborators and acknowledged that Square Enix is actively considering multiple partnership opportunities. But he was careful not to confirm anything. "We are considering a lot of different collaborations at the moment," he said. "Whether Fortnite is included in the list of potential collaboration partners, that's something for the fans to look forward to."
The company's caution reflects a deliberate strategy. Final Fantasy 7 is one of gaming's most valuable properties, and Square Enix has historically been selective about where its characters appear. That gatekeeping protects the brand's prestige and ensures that when a collaboration does happen, it carries weight. Still, Hamaguchi's comments make clear the door is not closed.
When asked which character he could envision in Fortnite, Hamaguchi's answer revealed the kind of thinking that goes into these decisions. He chose Barret, the gun-armed soldier whose entire left arm is a weapon. In Fortnite's framework, where every character carries and equips firearms, Barret's design already mirrors the game's mechanical logic. His arm is the gun. "Given that Fortnite is a game where characters have their own guns that they equip and play with, I was thinking about how Barret would work in that game, given that his entire arm is already a gun." The observation suggests that if a Final Fantasy 7 crossover does materialize, it will not be arbitrary—the character will fit the game's systems in a way that feels natural rather than forced.
For now, no official announcement has come. But Hamaguchi's willingness to discuss the possibility, combined with the existing relationship between the two studios and the proven success of previous collaborations, suggests that Final Fantasy 7 characters in Fortnite is not a matter of if but when. The parachuting mechanic is already proof that these two worlds are talking to each other.
Notable Quotes
Being on the Highwind and jumping off it to parachute into the map. That is something we directly took inspiration from Fortnite.— Naoki Hamaguchi, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director
We are considering a lot of different collaborations at the moment. Whether Fortnite is included in the list of potential collaboration partners, that's something for the fans to look forward to.— Naoki Hamaguchi
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