Square Enix in talks w/Epic to port FF XV engine to UE4 to make it run on the Switch

Source: Eurogamer

A few short weeks back, Final Fantasy 15 director Hajime Tabata hinted that Square Enix was looking into bringing his game to Nintendo's Switch console, and now we've an idea of what exactly that might look like - even if it's still very much in the planning stage.

There was some speculation that the Switch would get Final Fantasy 15: Pocket Edition, a mobile spin-off that takes the original game's story and delivers it across 10 episodic chapters tailored for touchscreens, but it sounds as if Square Enix is attempting to get a version of the console game running on Nintendo's hardware.

"We're actually doing very specific technical investigations into what's possible at the moment," Tabata told us at Square Enix's Shinjuku offices ahead of this week's Tokyo Game Show. "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.

"The other thing - you see the mobile version, the PC version, one thing we value is to optimise 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."

Hajime Tabata

Last week Bethesda made the surprise announcement that it's bringing the recent Doom and the forthcoming Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus to Nintendo Switch, which gives us some cause for optimism when it comes to seeing current-gen console ports on the hybrid hardware. Whether that'd be possible for Final Fantasy 15, meanwhile, seems uncertain right now - though there are options that Square Enix are open to exploring.

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Well, at least we know that Square Enix is horrible at making engines. Which explains why a lot of their big projects such as Project Octopath Traveler, Kingdom Hearts 3, and Final Fantasy VII is being used by UE4 over their Luminous Engine. Could FF XVI also be powered by UE4 as well?

Good news, it's evidence that developers and publishers are eyeing the platform and may be willing to put in that extra effort and $$$ to get their wares up and running. I wouldn't mind playing these games with concessions if they can be portable.

I know that Nomura wants to finish Kingdom Hearts 3 before considering a Switch port, but I won't be surprise it will be announced sometimes next year. Glad that SE is embracing the benefits of UE4.

Ooh. So could this mean that, providing it's not a PS4 exclusive, we could even see FFVII remake come to Switch.

I don't understand why some devs are eager to put their multiplat games on Switch. They're not going to sell well. Also I don't know why people want multiplats on Switch, it won't perform or look good as the other consoles/PC counterparts. Portability must mean a lot to some people, means next to nothing to me.

Interested to see how far this goes and to see how FFXV would turn out on the Switch.

Can't say I'm super excited personally though since I still have an unopen copy of the game for my Xbox One. the fact that other great games have come out plus me thinking FFXV will likely be a timesink have kind of kept me from finally plunging into it.

It's possible, UE4 is very scalable. But some sacrifices still need to be made to make it run above 60 FPS.

I don't have time to sit down and play games all the time, I have been playing games on the go for quite a while now.

@metalboi: Because most people don't have powerful gaming rigs. Plus the multiplats between X1/PS4/PC will be far more similar than a multipat on Switch.

@FireEmblem_Man: That's understandable, it's just not something I really care about.

@metalboi: I know FFXV will look like crap on Switch compared to the other systems. It's weak. Deal with it. If you're going to do your usual cry baby bullshit just stfu and don't quote me back. I'm not going to put up with your stupidity.

cool if it works

@metalboi: Well I know how you are. You cried and whined about something I said to you months ago. And what did I say that was so stupid? You just got ultra defensive about my opinion. Hopefully your insults you just spit out get you banned for good.

I wouldn't be so sure.

Before the Switch arrived I tended towards the same view, now that all these multiplats are arriving (NBA2K, DOOM, Wolfenstein II, FIFA, etc), I'm going to be looking at the Switch version right off the bat, simply because I can take them anywhere. I'm perfectly fine with some sacrifices in the bells and whistles department if the core gameplay is there (such as NBA2K). I discounted the Switch's portability and actually argued in the past more than once that I'd rather have those system resources placed into more silicon, but after having owned the system for a bit, I'm coming around.

The Switch is great, I play it all the time, and having AAA games on the go is pretty fucking incredible. I'm really hoping that this keeps up and third parties put in genuine effort. Nintendo potentially has one of their best systems on their hands, all it needs is the support it deserves. I can tell you I'm going to be there to help, and hope others will be as well. Switch deserves to have support other than just Nintendo's.

@MirkoS77: Finally a decent response! Thank you! And yes like I said if portability means a lot to you, I get how this would be awesome. I just wouldn't want to sacrifice the visual fidelity, and frame rate for portability.

Not sure if FFXV will sell well on the Switch since it already came out on the PS4 and Xbox last year.

I would love this

@spike6958: Now that would be a big step forward for the Switch.

Now suddenly you sound like multiplat of Switch will be a better experience because wont be similar to the original game on their leading consoles or im wrong.

Because to pay 59.99$ to play a far inferior game vs the original just because will be portable .. is a nono to me. Also i think we need to see before we talk how close to original will be or not.

@AzatiS: I'm sorry... what? Lol I didn't quite understand that.

NEvermind maybe was my mistake.

@AzatiS: No worries. :)

@primorandomguy: It's simple.

If they feel they can port existing IP over to the switch at a lower cost than the forecasted revenue from sales on said platform, they port it.

It's not like they need to create the game from scratch.

@appariti0n: That's a fair point. I just thought it'd be a lot of work to downgrade the game to be able to properly be played on the Switch.

@primorandomguy: why do you not want switch owners to have good games? Did you expect us to play mobile phone and 3ds level games?

I think we should wait and see. SE is great at making visually detailed games they might impress us

@Celsius765: When in the hell did I say that?

I think this is an encouraging sign of potential support. However, I'm really not interested in playing FFXV, and it wasn't known for running that well on the other consoles. I'm not excited for this - would rather see a quality new entry built for the hardware, or a great classic FF port

@primorandomguy: that's the impression you give. Why else complain about switch getting these games. Its not like switch getting things games hurts anyone. It should get games not be left to rot like Wii U. And it certainly shouldn't end up a place to dump shovelware like Wii. If you're worried about visual fidelity then none of the consoles deserve games then. The best graphics and framerates are on pc.

???..is Tabata bi polar?...didn't some a week or 2 back ..that Tabata says this was a joke post?..huh?

That would be neat... and I'd support a solid 3rd party Switch port if done well.

But my real FF15 hype is in the Steam port. Can't wait for that beaut!

That's what I thought as well, he's such a huge tease.

I don't really care about FF15, but I'd like to see them try porting it to tbe Switch. It'll be interesting to see how far the hardware can be pushed (and how much developers would have to trim to make it work).

@primorandomguy: I would have thought so too, but who knows? Maybe UE4 is easy to port over to?

The Switch has inferior hardware, but any game can be ported to it with enough investment. It's looking like the investment will be worth it to devs. That is a very good sign.

Yes, as long as they see good revenue, they can keep making more Switch games.

Guess this means Square is completely abandoning that engine in favor of the Unreal 4 engine.

There's no doubt in my mind that a version of Final Fantasy 15 could run on the Switch. It's not doing anything gameplay wise that would destroy the Switch's CPU. The graphics would have to be stripped down, but it could probably be done. Between that and Doom it would give us a really good perspective on how powerful the Switch is in relationship to the PS4/Xbox One.

Yea confirmed he's a weirdo ..lol.. Anyway would be interesting if they manage to run it on Switch - how it runs & what it looks like. :P

Well, I felt that SE lacked good programmers that would be able for them to run their games on consoles better. id Software is full of talented programmers that learned a lot from John Carmack. It's a shame for SE to not use their home built engines, but I believe it's for the best for them to cut costs and finish games on time. I have to applaud Epic for making UE4 very scalable and hoping that they get even better if they're making UE5.

600p@25fps

But at least I can play on the bus.

I like Rare for putting in that option.

You can port any game to any consoles if you're willing to strip it bak enough to get it to work.

It just depends if you're willing to strip it back so much that it's no longer the same game and thus if it's even worth doing.