"Final Fantasy VII" was announced in February 1996. Square president and chief executive officer Tomoyuki Takechi were fairly confident about Japanese players making the game a commercial success even on a new platform. A playable demo was included on a disc giveaway at the 1996 Tokyo Game Show, dubbed "Square's Preview Extra: Final Fantasy VII & Siggraph '95 Works". The disc also included the early test footage Square created using characters from "Final Fantasy VI". The initial release date was at some point in 1996, but to properly realize their vision, Square postponed the release date almost a full year. "Final Fantasy VII" was released on January 31, 1997. It was published in Japan by Square. A re-release of the game based on its Western version, titled "Final Fantasy VII International", was released on October 2, 1997. This improved "International" version would kickstart the trend for Square to create an updated version for the Japanese release, based on the enhanced Western versions. The "International" version was re-released as a physical disc as part of the "Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Ultimate Box" Japanese package on December 18, 2012.