PC will be the “lead platform”, for Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3

The Final Fantasy VII Remake series is no longer a PlayStation-first series

Square Enix has officially made its Final Fantasy VII Remake series multi-platform, moving the series away from its PlayStation-first strategy. Now, all future games in the series will be day-1 multi-platform releases. This means that Part III will be coming to PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Switch 2.

In an interview with Automation, series director Naoki Hamaguchi discussed this change, confirming that PC is now the series’ “lead platform”. However, each version of the game will be individually optimised and “fine-tuned” to deliver a great visual experience.

Automaton – I see, so PC serves as your lead platform, and even the PS5 Pro is treated as something to optimize for, like with other platforms

Hamaguchi:
That’s correct. By the way, when adapting the game for each platform, simply lowering quality across the board isn’t necessarily the solution, because this can compromise the intended visual expression. That’s why we make sure to review everything by eye and fine-tune so that each port matches the original vision.

– Naoki Hamaguchi interview with Automaton

During the interview, Hamaguchi called PS5 and PS5 Pro “mid-range platforms”, stating that PC texture sizes can differ by “roughtly 1.5-2x”. On PC, polygon counts can also be “more than three times” larger. That said, the PC version needs to be scalable to support lower-end devices, like Valve’s Steam Deck.

Overall, Hamaguchi believes that using PC as its leading platform will not impact the series on other platforms. After all, well-made PC games are scalable to lower-end hardware. PC will offer the highest-quality assets, while other platforms use adjusted assets tuned to their specific platforms.

Hamaguchi:
The main concern is that if development assumes hardware of a certain level as the standard, all platforms might be pulled to that level of quality. What I’d like to clarify first is that the highest-end gaming environment is PC.

While PC gaming is gradually expanding in Japan, overseas growth has been even more rapid. The market has broadened tremendously across both consoles and PC. The FFVII Remake series has sold very well on platforms like Steam and the Epic Games Store, so we develop assets with the broad PC market in mind. In fact, our 3D assets are created at the highest quality level based on PC as the foundation.

When FFVII Rebirth launched, there was talk about how the PC version looked better than the PS5 version, and our philosophy will not change for the third installment. As our fundamental principle, we do not design assets to meet the lowest baseline. Instead, we create them for high-end environments first.

We then apply what we call “reduction,” adjusting assets and tuning them appropriately for each platform. This means that we avoid negatively impacting high-spec platforms. This isn’t unique to us, either, I believe it’s become fairly common practice among developers in recent years.

—So you first create the highest possible quality graphics, then scale and optimize for each platform’s performance.

Hamaguchi:
That’s right. We fine-tune things to ensure the high-quality assets we create are delivered to players at a consistent level. While optimization is necessary to match each platform’s specifications, I can state clearly that this does not impose any constraints on high-end hardware.

—For high-spec platforms, you can simply use the original assets without modification, right?

Hamaguchi:
Speaking in purely technical terms, we categorize PS5 and PS5 Pro as “mid-range platforms” internally. Compared to high-end PCs, texture sizes may differ by roughly 1.5 to 2 times, mesh loading by 1.5 to 2 times, and polygon counts by more than three times. That’s how big the difference can be.

Conversely, among currently supported systems, the one adjusted toward lower specifications is the Steam Deck, since it operates at less than half the PS5’s baseline. Therefore, I’d like to once again say that supporting multiple platforms does not impact overall quality.

– Naoki Hamaguchi interview with Automaton

Overall, PC gamers can expect the best experience when playing Final Fantasy VII Part III. All console versions will feature lower-quality assets. However, this means that PC gamers will likely need high-end hardware to experience this game with maxed-out graphical settings.

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