Square Enix explains why the final chapter of the FFVII Remake project is not moving to Unreal Engine 5, and what that means for visuals on PS5 and the rumored Switch successor.
Square Enix has confirmed that the third and final chapter of the Final Fantasy VII Remake project will once again be built on Unreal Engine 4 instead of upgrading to Unreal Engine 5. With UE5 showcase games setting a new visual bar on PS5 and PC, fans naturally wondered why the conclusion of Cloud’s saga would not follow suit.
In recent interviews, director Naoki Hamaguchi and the development team outlined a clear technical and production case for sticking with UE4. Their reasoning has less to do with ignoring new technology and everything to do with how deeply customized their current engine is, how far along the trilogy already is, and what that means for performance, timelines and platform targets like PS5 and the expected Switch successor.
A Heavily Customized Unreal Engine 4
Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth both run on Unreal Engine 4, but not the stock version you would download from Epic. Over the course of two enormous AAA projects, Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit I has turned UE4 into something closer to a proprietary in-house engine.
The team has added bespoke systems for cinematic cutscenes, party-based combat, complex character shaders and large, streaming open areas tailored to their data pipelines. Tools for animators, level designers and technical artists have been shaped around FFVII’s specific needs. The asset workflows, from how Cloud’s hair renders in different lighting conditions to how Midgar’s dense geometry streams in without obvious loading, are all built on top of this modified UE4.
Hamaguchi notes that these changes amount to “a lot of modifications” under the hood. In practice, that means the team is no longer simply “using Unreal Engine 4” but using a UE4 core wrapped in years of custom tech. Shifting this entire stack to UE5 would not be a flip of a switch. It would be a large-scale porting effort touching everything from rendering to scripting and build tools.
Why Not Upgrade To Unreal Engine 5?
Square Enix did seriously consider Unreal Engine 5 for Part 3. According to the developers, the decision came down to a trade-off between potential visual gains and the very real production cost of moving an ongoing trilogy onto a new engine.
First, the team’s toolset and workflows are battle-tested. Designers and artists have shipped two games on this customized UE4 and know exactly how it behaves on PlayStation 5 and PC. Changing engines mid-series would mean retraining staff, rewriting tools and revalidating every performance assumption. Even if UE5 offers more modern rendering features, the ramp-up period would slow development significantly.
Second, migrating content is far from trivial. While UE4 and UE5 share a lineage, a project as heavily modified as FFVII Remake is not a simple import away from working on UE5. Custom rendering passes, shader setups, animation blueprints and streaming logic would all have to be audited and adapted. For a project that already targets a release window as early as 2027, that would eat into time better spent building the game itself.
Third, the team values trilogy-wide consistency. Both Remake and Rebirth have a distinct look that mixes high-detail character models and cinematic lighting with stylized effects and color grading. Shifting to a new engine in the final chapter could create a visual disconnect between entries. Sticking to their known rendering tech lets them refine and polish that established style rather than reinventing it.
In the end, Square Enix concluded that the workload and risk of a UE5 migration outweighed the benefit. The FFVII Remake trilogy will be technologically cohesive from start to finish, anchored in a mature but heavily evolved UE4.
What This Means For Visual Expectations On PS5
For players watching UE5 showcases full of Nanite geometry and Lumen global illumination, “Unreal Engine 4” can sound dated. In practice, the choice does not mean Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 will look like a last-gen title on PS5.
The current games already show what Square Enix can squeeze out of this tech. Rebirth in particular pushes dense foliage, large zones, high-quality materials and complex particle effects while maintaining solid performance on Sony’s hardware. Years of optimization on the same codebase means the developers know how to use every bit of available CPU and GPU budget.
Instead of adopting marquee UE5 features, Part 3 will likely advance more incrementally: higher asset density in key areas, sharper materials, improved facial animation systems and better stability at target frame rates. Expect lighting, post-processing and environment detail to be tuned more smartly rather than completely reinvented.
It is also worth remembering that UE5’s most headline-grabbing features come with trade-offs. Systems like Nanite and Lumen demand careful use to hit stable performance targets. For a cinematic RPG with long cutscenes, party combat and big set pieces, predictability and stable performance can matter more than chasing cutting-edge rendering techniques across every scene.
In other words, on PS5 you should anticipate something that looks at least as strong as Rebirth, with refinements on top, rather than a radical visual leap that tries to match UE5 tech demos. The gains are likely to be evolutionary, not revolutionary.
Positioning For A Switch Successor
The engine decision also has implications for Nintendo’s expected next-generation hardware, often referred to as Switch 2. While Nintendo has not formally announced the system, it is reasonable to assume Square Enix is planning for a world where FFVII Remake titles reach more platforms.
A mature UE4 pipeline is already well understood on scalable hardware. Techniques for dynamic resolution scaling, adjustable shadow quality and level-of-detail transitions are proven, which makes it easier to target a range of devices. Developers can scale asset density and effects while keeping core gameplay and cinematic presentation intact.
Unreal Engine 5 can of course scale too, but Square Enix would be dealing with a less familiar, still evolving codebase. For a company already managing multiple large projects, avoiding the extra layer of engine R&D makes the trilogy more portable. If and when FFVII Remake Part 3 appears on a Nintendo platform, it is more likely to be the result of pragmatic scaling choices on a known engine than a full embrace of UE5’s most demanding features.
For players, that probably translates to a similar pattern as other cross-platform RPGs: PS5 at higher resolutions, more stable performance and richer effects, with the Switch successor offering a slightly pared-back but fundamentally similar experience.
A Strategic Bet On Stability
Square Enix’s call to keep Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 on Unreal Engine 4 is less about technological conservatism and more about finishing a massive trilogy under stable conditions. A customized, well-understood engine lets the team prioritize storytelling, combat depth and content scope over the risks of a mid-project technology reboot.
On PS5, fans should expect a game that visually builds on Rebirth instead of chasing UE5 showpieces. And if the series reaches the rumored Switch successor, the UE4 foundation should help deliver a consistent, if scaled, version of that experience.
For a project intended to feel like one continuous saga from Midgar to its finale, that kind of stability might be exactly what Final Fantasy VII Remake needs most.