Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 Director Says Multiplatform Releases Has Changed Development Process

While some may have expected to get their first look at Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 during Sony’s recent State of Play showcase, director Naoki Hamaguchi has said in an interview with Famitsu that the team still isn’t ready to reveal “specific details” about the game yet. He also spoke about how development on the title has been progressing, as well as the fact that the team is keen on making sure that Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 comes to all platforms – PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 – on the same day.

“We cannot yet provide specific details regarding the release timing,” said Hamaguchi (via machine translation). “However, what we have strongly felt while developing this multi-platform title is that ‘users want to experience the excitement at the same time.’ We are seriously considering how to best develop the third title on multiple platforms, both for the fans and from a business perspective.”

He went on to discuss how Square Enix’s multiplatform release strategy has changed development processes for the team as well. While a development team would previously focus its efforts on making a game for a single platform and then port it over to others, Hamaguchi explained that this process is no longer viable. The varying level of hardware power between modern platforms means that teams now have to make sure that, from the very beginning, designing games based on the idea that they will be running on multiple environments.

“To be honest, the development flow itself has changed considerably,” he explained. “Previously, the general approach was to ‘complete the game on one platform first, and then consider porting it later.’ Square Enix also largely followed this approach. However, what I strongly felt through FFVII Remake and FFVII Rebirth is that in this day and age, that way of thinking is no longer viable. Including rendering, streaming, memory design, and asset configuration, it is necessary to ‘design with multiple environments in mind from the beginning.’ In other words, the era of ‘the porting team working hard later’ is over.”

While Square Enix has confirmed Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 will come to all platforms, the company hasn’t yet made any commitments about day one releases across all consoles and PC. With the team’s new development processes, however, Hamaguchi is confident that a simultaneous launch is possible.

“These days, the question of ‘which platform it’s released on’ is far less important than ‘how much enthusiasm you can put into playing it.’ We’re prioritizing that aspect with our trilogy as well. The era where ‘AAA games are only for a select few environments’ is rapidly changing,” Hamaguchi said. “That’s why we absolutely won’t leave the third installment in an incomplete state. I want to bring it to a point where I can proudly say, ‘I have completed the FFVII Remake series to the very end.’ That is the determination with which we are developing it now. Please look forward to it!”

In the meantime, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has just come out on Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2. For more on that, check out its launch trailer.