“One thing we had trouble with”: Final Fantasy 7 Remake Director Reveals Some of the Issues Encountered While Working on the Xbox Series S Port

Cloud fighting Shinra in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. This series is no longer bound to the PlayStation platform. Image Credit: Square Enix

Last Updated on Nov 20, 2025 @ 8:25:37 AM.


Final Fantasy 7 Remake has been out for the last 5 years and received a next-gen port through the Intergrade edition. PlayStation and PC users have played through the first part of this ambitious remake trilogy by Square Enix, and it is finally time to set sail for other platforms, such as the Xbox Series consoles and Nintendo Switch 2.

The ports have been highly anticipated, and director Naoki Hamaguchi has been looking forward to extending this remake experience to more players. The Nintendo port is going well, but Hamaguchi revealed there were some hiccups for the budget-friendly Microsoft console.

The Lack of Memory on the Smaller Xbox Series Console Was a Challenge for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Developers

Cloud and the party in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
While it was challenging, Hamaguchi quickly pointed out that this Xbox Series console was not inferior in any way. Image Credit: Square Enix

The excitement around the final part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is at an all-time high, and it is a perfect opportunity for Square Enix to get the word out through new ports. For the longest time, fans could only play all recent Final Fantasy entries on a PlayStation console, but it appears that there has been a shift in tone for the future of this franchise.

New ports to other platforms will make it accessible for players to dive into this series. In a recent interview, Hamaguchi revealed these ports were not completed overnight, and some serious changes were made to ensure a smooth experience. One console, in particular, is the smaller Xbox Series S console, which is infamous for its lower memory.

One thing we had trouble with, and I think this is true for other developers, is the Xbox Series S’s available memory. It doesn’t have a huge amount, so we had to work right up to the line to optimise the memory, all the way to the end of development.

Despite the challenges of making this port work for the console, Hamaguchi revealed that they worked on this project almost every day to make adjustments and optimize the game with the console’s lower memory. Fortunately, the port is in a stable state, and Square Enix unveiled a new Streamlined Progression mode coming with these new ports.

We were working every day to make sure it was as efficient as possible and to get around any problems it was causing. It wasn’t the same level of adjustment as with Switch 2, where we rebuilt the entire pipeline; it was really just the limited memory.

The Xbox Series S and its lower memory are holding Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade back, but Hamaguchi is all in to deliver a similar experience from the PlayStation 5. It is a testament to their commitment to bringing this game to new players and to quality assurance.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade will be released on Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 on January 22, 2026.

For more Thumb Wars coverage, check out how the gaming community reacted to Red Dead Redemption getting a PlayStation 5 port first over its prequel, and our exclusive interview with the developers behind the Daughters of Voodoo.

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