Final Fantasy Tactics remake rebuilt from scratch since source code was lost

One of the most anticipated titles of 2025, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is set to release on September 30 for Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch. The game is a modern remaster of the tactical RPG originally released for the PlayStation in 1997.

In a recent interview with the official PlayStation Blog, director Kazutoyo Maehiro, who served as event planner on the original game, shared insight into the development process and some of the challenges the team faced.

According to Maehiro, the original source code for the game was lost, due to common practices at the time. “This was simply the norm at the time,” he explained. “We didn’t have the kinds of effective resource management tools available today, and we developed games by essentially overwriting the previous code each time we fixed a bug or added a new language.”

Although the team initially considered using an emulator for the project, they ultimately decided to rebuild the game from scratch. Maehiro said: “This method wouldn’t have allowed us to make granular refinements even if the objective was to recreate the original game. After our analysis, we felt the best way to ensure the game met modern playability standards while staying true to the original was to rebuild it.”

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles aims to deliver the classic strategy experience with enhanced visuals, updated UI, and quality-of-life improvements for a new generation of players.