For a long time now, PC gamers have been used to the Final Fantasy series treating their platform as somewhat secondary to the game’s core console versions. There are some signs that may be starting to change, though, as director Naoki Hamaguchi has confirmed that the PC is now the “lead platform” for development of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy.
In a recent interview with Automaton, Hamaguchi clarified that the team takes the relatively common practice of creating visual assets for its multiplatform games by targeting “high-end environments first,” then performing a “reduction” for less powerful platforms. These days, that means “our 3D assets are created at the highest quality level based on PC as the foundation,” he said. Players have already noticed this graphical difference in the PC version of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Hamaguchi said, and “our philosophy will not change for the third installment.”
While PC gaming is only “gradually expanding in Japan,” Hamaguchi said the rapid growth in international PC gamers has led the company to “develop assets with the broad PC market in mind.”
The PC versions of recent Final Fantasy VII Remake games have sold well on Steam and the Epic Games Store, he added.
It’s unclear if that means PC gamers will have to wait longer than console owners for future Final Fantasy games. The first Final Fantasy VII Remake didn’t hit PCs until 19 months after the PlayStation 4 version, and Rebirth was first available on PC 11 months after its PS5 launch. Elsewhere in the franchise, the PC versions of both Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy XV didn’t hit until over a year after their console counterparts.
Final Fantasy PC mods that are way too inappropriate for publication on Ars.” src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/clouddress-800×450.png”>
Enlarge/ This screenshot of a “Cloud in a dress” mod is being used in place of some other Final Fantasy PC mods that are way too inappropriate for publication on Ars.
For game producer Naoki Yoshida, though, that new opportunity comes along with a plea for the user community to behave themselves when modifying the game. In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Yoshida felt the need to step in when director Hiroshi Takai was asked about what “goofy mods” he would like to see in the game.
“If we said, ‘It’d be great if someone made xyz,’ it might come across as a request, so I’ll avoid mentioning any specifics here!” Yoshida told PC Gamer. “The only thing I will say is that we definitely don’t want to say anything offensive or inappropriate, so please don’t make or install anything like that.”
This isn’t exactly a new type of concern for Japanese game developers. In 2015, Dead or Alive 5 producer Yosuke Hayashi asked “PC users to play our game in good moral and manner” (a bit ironic for a series so focused on scantily clad, buxom female competitors). Last year, Capcom went even further by likening PC game modding to “cheating,” citing the “reputational damage caused by malicious mods” that can be “offensive to public order and morals.”
Enlarge/ Please don’t do anything immoral with this Dead or Alive character, modders.
“When these [offensive mods] are disseminated, the image of the product is tarnished and branding is affected,” Capcom said, adding that when these mods are “mistaken for legitimate implementations” it can cause “reputational damage” and “bad publicity.”
Um … Sure, Elden is a Bandai Namco-funded title, and I was the production general manager in charge of Elden, so it’s not irrelevant … it’s ridiculously well-made mod but plz stop it lol https://t.co/ISlXLrjfhM
“Personally, I wouldn’t say anything for your personal enjoyment,” Harada said in a follow-up post. “The only problem is that many people misunderstand it as official and ask us to support the problems it causes (I’m tired of this wrong inquiry).”
While we understand how annoying it is for random players to confuse a fan mod with a developer’s core product, it’s well past time for these developers to start accepting that this is how PC gaming works. When you publish a game on an open platform like the PC, you relinquish some level of control over what the community does with the gaming canvas you’ve given them. If a developer isn’t comfortable with that, they should stay out of PC games altogether.
Rather than chastising “inappropriate” mods, maybe developers should try to embrace the attitude that FFXVI director Takai was able to express in an interview posted on the Epic Games Store: “Feel free to have fun on your own,” he said. “Within reason, of course!”
