Final Fantasy Tactics Remaster Development Started in 2018

In a recent interview with the development team of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles and some staff members of the original 1997 title, the director of the remaster, Kazutoyo Maehiro, said that the game has been in development since 2018. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

As part of the talk, the interviewer asked how did this upcoming definitive edition of Final Fantasy Tactics came to be, 28 years after the original game and 18 years after the War of the Lions PSP port. The project has been in the works since May 2018. Maehiro recalls how it all started with a Niconico Douga stream showcasing the original Final Fantasy Tactics, to celebrate the second part of the “Return to Ivalice” Alliance Raids.

During the second week of the streams, Maehiro recalls playing FFT for the first time in a while, accompanied by the original game’s Director Yasumi Matsuno, and FFXIV Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida. Maehiro thought that the game was really interesting, but because of its age there were elements, such as the UI, that hindered his experience. This led him to want to relaunch the game in a state that could be enjoyed by players nowadays. However, Maehiro wasn’t capable of putting his time into the Final Fantasy Tactics remaster until development of FFXVI came to an end.

Additionally, Director Kazutoyo Maehiro confirmed that Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles will not include the extra content added for the War of the Lions PSP port. The director said that the development team preferred to make a Final Fantasy Tactics that new players in 2025 could enjoy, and decided that basing it on the original release would be more appropriate.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles will come to the Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on September 30, 2025.