Final Fantasy 15 is gearing up to release on new platforms outside of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the near future, with the Pocket Edition coming to mobile devices later this year and the full version coming to PC early next year. However, the platform that everyone keeps asking about is Nintendo Switch, and whether or not the game might ever get a port to that platform.
While some initially thought that Final Fantasy 15: Pocket Edition might end up getting a release on Switch, we’re now hearing that Square Enix is trying to deliver the complete experience to Switch owners. This news comes from Eurogamer, who recently spoke with game director Hajime Tabata ahead of this week’s Tokyo Game Show. Tabata said that “We’re actually doing very specific technical investigations into what’s possible at the moment. Where we are at the moment – we’ve completed those tests and have worked out where the ground lies. We’re currently in the middle of the discussion and debate about what we should be doing, and how to realise that on the Switch.”
He goes on to say “The other thing – you see the mobile version, the PC version, one thing we value is to optimize the way the game plays and the experience for the individual hardware it’s on rather than a one-size fits all approach. We can’t currently announce anything – we haven’t come to a full decision on the best way to do it yet. We’re having very open, frank discussions with Nintendo at the moment about what they think is the best thing to do. It’s all under investigation.”
Finally, he concludes with “Honestly, when we did the technical test to see if we could use the same native engine we used on other console versions on the Switch, we tried to run it there, the results weren’t satisfactory. It wasn’t what you’d want from a final game. It doesn’t mean that’s the end of that – we’re looking at the options, like the customisation of the engine. To give you an example how open those discussions are – we’re talking to Epic at the moment, about maybe what we could possibly do there, and if we did a Switch version maybe we’d be able to partner and do something there. Their Unreal environment is just amazing, and will be very useful. You have to have all those options on the table – without that it’d be impossible to make a decision about what we can do on that platform.”
It would be great if Square Enix was able to bring the game to the Switch, as that means that players would have a console-quality version of the game that could be played at home or on the road. It definitely won’t be easy for them, but we’ll be sure to bring you updates on the progress as soon as we can.
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