FF7 Remake director says it’s hard porting to ‘lower-end’ Switch 2

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is now available on Nintendo Switch 2, and it’s a more significant moment for the series than you might think. After all, Final Fantasy began its life as a Nintendo-exclusive RPG series. Speaking to Polygon at the game’s recent launch event at Nintendo’s New York City store, director Naoki Hamaguchi explained why the port marks a homecoming moment for Final Fantasy — and why getting it working on Switch 2 was no easy task.

While there is no shortage of classic Final Fantasy games on Switch, the series’ more recent entries have yet to make the jump to Nintendo’s console. You won’t find Final Fantasy 16 and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, though you will occasionally get spinoffs like Theatrhythm Final Bar Line. For Hamaguchi, getting Final Fantasy 7 Remake working on Switch 2 is a meaningful milestone, and one that may open the door for more games outside of the remake trilogy to hit Nintendo platforms.

“The Final Fantasy franchise was originally on the Nintendo platform. It grew throughout history,” Hamaguchi told Polygon. “With the original Final Fantasy 7, that’s when we made the transition to PlayStation. Nintendo being a platform for Final Fantasy 7 in 2026 definitely means a lot to me. And not just with Final Fantasy 7. We’re hoping that with more Final Fantasy franchise titles coming to the Nintendo platform, we’d be able to expand and reach more Nintendo fans.”

Intergrade was originally built with PlayStation 5 in mind, a console that’s still more powerful than Nintendo’s latest. Hamaguchi acknowledged that challenge, suggesting that developers are still feeling out the system and learning how to port modern games to it.

“Switch 2 is a very appealing platform and a great piece of hardware,” Hamaguchi said. “That said, compared to other consoles, the specs are a little bit on the lower-end side. I have seen a lot of other publishers struggling to get their games to work very smoothly on the Nintendo Switch 2. But considering that this is a trilogy, and Remake being the first title within it, I really wanted to make sure that we are conveying that quality to Nintendo players for them to understand just how great Final Fantasy 7 Remake is.”

The work seems to have paid off. Final Fantasy 7 Remake looks great and runs shockingly well on Switch 2. (Well, aside from Cloud’s hair.) It’s a bit of a miracle port, making reasonable concessions to get the game running on a handheld machine at a fairly consistent framerate. It’s a great sign for Final Fantasy’s future on Switch 2. Maybe there is a future where we could see Final Fantasy 17 launch on a Nintendo platform alongside PlayStation.

Square Enix has one big hurdle to clear before that, though. Hamaguchi’s next challenge is bringing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to Switch 2. Though Remake runs great on the console, Rebirth is a significantly larger game, complete with small but intricately detailed open-world zones. Hamaguchi says that the engineering team is handling that tall task well so far, to the point where the port is already far along in development.

“At this point, we have gotten the game built,” Hamaguchi said. “Our engineers are working hard to optimize and to provide the final polish on the build. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to provide more information on Rebirth in the very near future. Compared to the first title, the world map is a lot larger, so there is no doubt that it’s a more challenging production process. But our engineers are very passionate about the work that they’re doing, so I’m confident that we’ll be able to deliver.”

The freshly ported version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is available now on Switch 2 and Xbox Series X.