With two games in the trilogy down, it’s become clear that the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project is one of the most ambitious reimaginings the game industry has ever seen. And while fans wait eagerly for the third and final part, the first two games are expanding to a whole new frontier — Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox.
Both Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth were notably PS5 exclusives, but a wind of change seems to be coming for the series, for a multitude of reasons. Part of that comes from the company’s new CEO, Takashi Kiryu, appointed in 2023, and is pushing the company in a new direction. But branching out to other systems does present a prime opportunity to grow the Final Fantasy franchise further — especially important as the series has seen its fair share of struggles in recent years.
And while you might think this renewed approach could change things moving forward, Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi is confident in the progress being made on Part 3.
“For this, we actually didn’t adjust the schedules or development timeline for Part 3 in order to work on the multiplatform release for the three titles,” Hamaguchi tells Inverse, “Some of the teams have [moved around] to work on the titles, or some people are working concurrently, and such. So there hasn’t been an impact in that sense, in terms of the timeline for development of Part 3.”
But this still presents a prime opportunity to get the games in the hands of new players. Just a few months ahead of Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s release on Switch 2 and Xbox, in January 2026, Inverse talked with Hamaguchi about porting the game to new systems, the promise of Nintendo’s new handheld, and what it means for the future.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
When did you start planning for a Switch 2 version? Was that separate from when you decided to bring the game to Xbox?
Hamaguchi: These two were decided during separate times. It occurred when Nintendo first shared with us the new hardware and its details, and the first descriptions of its specs.
The thought came to me that Final Fantasy 7 can likely run on these specs. That was the first thought, and from there, the engineers joined in the conversation. From there, we made the decision that this is going to really support the continuous expansion of the Final Fantasy franchise. In terms of the timeline, the Xbox release was determined a bit earlier than we had the explanation from Nintendo regarding the new hardware.
Of course, we also had a change in our president for Square Enix to Takashi Kiryu. Under his vision, we shift more towards a multi-platform release of titles, to continue to reach a broader audience base around the world. And it’s more aligned to that philosophy as well.
Were there any unique difficulties in bringing the game to Nintendo Switch 2, or the Xbox Series S specifically?
Hamaguchi: With Switch 2, or various titles that are ported to it, a common sentiment is that the graphics might look different, and such. We focused on optimizing the graphics for Switch 2, and I believe we were able to achieve a state where the graphical quality is not too different from that of a PS5. And hearing player feedback from PAX West and Gamescom, I’m hearing that many users felt it was quite beautiful, visually. As a dev team, we’re happy to hear this.
The Xbox Series S hardware itself is quite high in terms of specs. So we didn’t have much of a challenge with processing issues. But like many developers, we ran into sort of memory-based challenges. That’s something we had worked on until near the end.
Seeing as the Switch 2 is the newest console, I’m curious, as a developer, what do you think of the system? Do you think it’s an opportunity for the Final Fantasy franchise?
Hamaguchi: With the release of the Switch 2 console, I do have this great sense of fate or kismet, with this one. Specifically, this is sort of the first mainline Final Fantasy to come out on a Nintendo console.
This is certainly not the end, not just with the Final Fantasy 7 series, but we want to continue to have the Final Fantasy franchise be loved by players around the world. And this is something we’ll continue to strive to support.
Now that Remake is about to come to Switch 2, how confident are you that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth can run well on the system?
Hamaguchi: Our experience working on Final Fantasy 7 Remake for Switch 2 gave us a very solid foundation of knowledge for the development team. Talking more specifically in terms of character expression, this really hinges on the lighting. So we focused on this and made sure the lighting was as close as possible in aligning with the PS5’s lighting – and then on things like post-effects, fog, and the calculations we had more aligned to the specific console. In that way, we had optimized the game for the specific hardware.
Our learning and experience from that —Rebirth is building on that as well. So certainly the experience we gained is really fueling us in that sense.
We put a lot of our development resources into the optimization, and as a result of that, I think it’s a pretty great title that maximizes the Switch 2 specs. Also, I wanted to mention that at the end of the year, a demo is coming out for Switch 2 and Xbox. So players who might still be on the fence or unsure about playing, it’d be great for them to experience [the demo] and feel the full specs of these new consoles.
I wanted to ask about the new Streamlined Progression features. Why did you feel it was important to implement those, even though Final Fantasy 7 Remake already has an easy mode?
Hamaguchi: With the Streamlined Progression and its implementation, I do see that nowadays, and not just in games but perhaps all forms of digital entertainment, there’s a strong desire for players to consume the content in their own preferred, desired style. So, of course, there’s also an issue of lack of time — some players want to play, but lack the time.
From a development perspective, it’d be a great shame for players who are still interested to not be able to play because of such obstacles. So the implementation of Streamlined Progression is to clear obstacles and just make the gameplay more accessible for a wider range of users. We’re both happy for players to not want to use any of these features to just play the game straight on. But also for players who want to use these features, and go through the game at a pace that suits them more. We’re more than happy to support this form of playstyle.
Final Fantasy 7 has collaborated with other games in the past, most notably Cloud and Sephiroth in Smash Bros. Do you think the Remake trilogy coming to all platforms opens up the potential for new collaborations? Are you open-minded?
Hamaguchi: Of course, having collaborations, that's not something that only we can decide. So there's nothing that I’m able to confirm or promise at this time.
However, in terms of having Final Fantasy be much more well-known and loved by many players, I see collaborations as something very positive, and it would be great to have more of them.
And I have to ask: Hamaguchi-San, do you have a preference for playing in handheld or TV mode on Switch 2?
Hamaguchi: Personally, I would say handheld mode. When I played and saw Final Fantasy 7 optimized and fully operating fluidly on this Nintendo console, it was pretty moving for me. I’d like other players to experience that as well.
Now that you’ve announced the Remake trilogy is coming to all platforms, has that shifted the development of Part 3 in any way? How are you accommodating that?
Hamaguchi: For this, we actually didn’t adjust the schedules or development timeline for Part 3 in order to work on the multiplatform release for the three titles.
Some of the teams have split to work on the titles, or some people are working concurrently, and such. So there hasn’t been an impact in that sense, in terms of the timeline for development of Part 3.
And is a simultaneous launch on all systems for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 something you’re aiming for?
Hamaguchi: We currently can’t state exactly how it will be released. I do wish to have as many players for Switch, Xbox, and PC included, be able to play the game on their desired platform. So we’re going to be striving to make that happen in the best way possible.
