FF7 Remake Part 3 director says team will stick with Unreal Engine 4

The third part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy is already “playable” and is being polished by Square Enix, and director Naoki Hamaguchi told GameSpot (via VGC) the team will continue using Unreal Engine 4 for the final game. Hamaguchi said, “We’ve been using Unreal Engine 4, but we’ve made a lot of modifications to fit our needs,” adding that it is “more beneficial to have something we’re already familiar with and have customized to fit our needs.” The team had explored moving to Unreal Engine 5 in 2024 but ultimately opted not to switch.

Staying on the older engine, Hamaguchi said, could help the team get the third game out faster by leaving fewer unknowns. The decision may also aid efforts to port the trilogy to Switch 2, though the choice “comes with some potential graphical drawbacks,” the interview noted. Other studios have lost development time when shifting to new Unreal toolsets, the piece added.

On generative AI, Hamaguchi said his stance hasn’t changed: he does not rely on AI to come up with ideas or create content, but sees AI as a tool to make tasks smoother. He cited quality assurance as an example—automating repetitive checks like collision detection can “reduce the stress on the human” and “lower the bandwidth that is required of our people,” he told GameSpot.

final fantasy vii remake, ff7 remake part 3, final fantasy vii remake trilogy, naoki hamaguchi, square enix, unreal engine 4, unreal engine 5, ue4 modifications, unreal toolset transition, switch 2 port, porting to switch 2, graphical drawbacks ue4, development time impact, playable third part, polishing the build, gamespot interview, vgc report, rebirth launch, generative ai, gen ai in development, quality assurance testing, automating qa with ai, collision detection testing, familiar toolset benefits