Final Fantasy Is Now Developing Assets PC-First, Treating PS5 as a 'Mid-Range' Platform

Square Enix Now Builds Final Fantasy Assets for PC First

In a revealing interview with Automaton, Final Fantasy VII Remake producer Hamaguchi disclosed that the development team now creates visual assets targeting high-end PC environments first, then scales down for consoles. The shift reflects the rapid global growth of PC gaming.

PS5 Called a Mid-Range Platform

"Our 3D assets are developed with the broad PC market in mind," Hamaguchi explained. He went further, characterizing the PS5 and PS5 Pro as "mid-range platforms" compared to a high-end PC, noting that they require reduced texture sizes, mesh loads, and polygon counts.

More constrained platforms — including PS4, Switch 2, and Xbox Series S — require additional compromises such as locking frame rates to 30fps and reducing NPC counts due to CPU limitations.

PC Sales Driving the Strategy

While PC gaming is still "gradually expanding in Japan," the international surge of PC gamers has made the platform increasingly important for Square Enix. The Final Fantasy VII Remake games have performed well on both Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Whether this PC-first development approach will result in simultaneous or earlier PC releases remains unclear. The first FFVII Remake launched on PC 19 months after PS4; Rebirth arrived 11 months after its PS5 debut.

FFVII Remake Part 3 on Track

On the topic of the final chapter in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, Hamaguchi offered reassuring news: development is "progressing very smoothly" and the team is "almost exactly on schedule" with planned milestones.