FFVII Remake Intergrade launched last month on Nintendo Switch 2 (and Xbox Series S). Overall, it was a solid port, though the Xbox Series S version offers better texture quality than the Switch 2 version, despite having less RAM available.
However, Nintendo Switch 2 players have been slightly disappointed to see that FFVII Remake Intergrade is only available on Game Key Cards rather than regular cartridges. Game Key Cards were introduced with the new Nintendo console and offer a hybrid format: they are physical cards that users must insert into their console, but they don't actually contain any data. Instead, they serve only as proof of ownership and require users to download the game data to their console's storage.
Now, Automaton was able to ask the question directly to Square Enix's Game Director, Naoki Hamaguchi, who shared a very frank response: game key cards load roughly twice as fast as cartridges, so there was no other viable option for the game developers.
There’s simply no way around key cards in certain respects. If you compare loading directly from a game cartridge (containing all game data) to loading from the Nintendo Switch 2’s internal storage, the load speed difference is roughly double. Some have expressed concern that multiplatform development may impose constraints not only on graphics, but even on game design itself. However, this is precisely why we didn’t choose a cartridge.
Our game design isn’t built around loading all data upfront, with nothing further being loaded afterward. Even during gameplay, data is constantly swapped in and out, and given that premise, the loading speed from a game card would inevitably be insufficient, leading to stress for the player. In addition, with currently available cartridge capacity, there is the practical limitation that the full game data simply wouldn’t fit in the first place.
However, as long as we can secure the high-speed storage read speeds such as SSD or UFS (on Switch 2), the design we’re aiming for becomes achievable within the scope of optimization for each platform. For the third game in the trilogy, we’re proceeding with development with the goal of delivering a large-scale experience similar to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, so please rest assured on that point.
In the past, when faced with practical issues related to load speed and storage capacity we couldn’t resolve, we had to decide not to release on Nintendo systems. However, Nintendo Switch 2’s performance is impressive, and with a key card format like FFVII Remake, releasing the games became possible.
We've heard the same argument before from Ubisoft Massive when they explained why they chose Game Key Cards for the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Star Wars Outlaws: the cartridges simply did not have the performance needed to run the game smoothly.
As for FFVII Remake, Hamaguchi revealed earlier this week, as part of the Automaton interview, that switching to a full multiplatform strategy for Part 3 won't lead to lower quality visuals because they are targeting the best version (PC) and then scaling down, not the other way around. We should learn more about Part 3 in the coming months; stay tuned.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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