Hamaguchi Says FF7 Remake Finale Stays on Unreal Engine 4 and Is "Very Smooth" in Development

Engine Decision Clarified in Direct Interview

A highly discussed r/Games post surfaced an Automaton interview with Final Fantasy VII Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi. The key point, quoted directly in the linked source context, is that the team will continue using Unreal Engine 4 for the trilogy’s final entry instead of rebuilding around Unreal Engine 5. Hamaguchi also states that production on the third game is progressing “very smoothly.”

The interview frames the decision as execution discipline rather than conservative tech posture. Hamaguchi explains that tying milestones too tightly to an engine-roadmap transition can introduce schedule risk. By contrast, continuing with an established in-house pipeline on UE4 allows the team to keep optimization and multi-platform porting workflows stable while still improving output quality.

Source-Backed Reasons the Team Gave

UE5 features like Lumen and Nanite are acknowledged as significant advances.

The team says schedule certainty and delivery risk were major factors.

Hamaguchi describes UE4 continuity as more efficient for this specific project phase.

He says accumulated know-how from prior entries is being reused and refined.

The same interview adds commercial context: Hamaguchi describes strong reception for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X|S, and emphasizes ongoing communication with players across PS5 and PC as well. In other words, the engine decision sits inside a broader multiplatform execution strategy, not a single technical shortcut.

Why This Is a High-Signal Development Story

For large multi-year franchises, engine migration timing is often as important as raw feature capability. A late-cycle shift can create tooling churn, content revalidation overhead, and delivery uncertainty. The interview’s central message is that Square Enix’s FF7 Remake team prioritizes production reliability and cross-platform polish for the final installment, while continuing to iterate quality on top of a proven pipeline.

From a player perspective, the takeaway is practical: this is less about UE4 versus UE5 branding and more about whether the team can ship the finale on time with consistent performance and visual quality. The source statements suggest that internal confidence is currently high.