Video game preservation has come a long way over the last few decades. Developers and publishers put a lot more effort into preserving source code and development materials now than they did in the past. Companies simply didn’t think there was any need to do so back in the day. It seems that was the case with Final Fantasy Tactics. In a new interview with the official PlayStation Blog, the remaster’s director Kazutoyo Maehiro revealed that the source code for the original version was overwritten following its release in 1997. As a result, the developers were forced to essentially rebuild the game over again for Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles.
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“This was simply the norm at the time,” Maehiro told the PlayStation Blog. “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.”
Maehiro went on to say that the team could have used an emulator for the classic mode that appears in Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. While some fans might have appreciated such an inclusion, this would have prevented the development team from making what Maehiro calls “granular refinements.” As such, the decision was made to simply rebuild the game over again, while working to remain as faithful as possible to the original vision of the game. It remains to be seen whether the publisher will be able to accomplish that goal, but hopefully Square Enix can live up to the proud legacy of Final Fantasy Tactics.
It’s worth noting that this is not the first time that Square Enix has run into trouble thanks to its handling of source code for older video games. Collection of Mana was released as a Nintendo Switch exclusive because Square Enix had lost the source code for the Super Famicom game Trials of Mana a long time ago. However, Nintendo still had it, and that allowed Square Enix to put in the effort required to finally translate the game to English. There’s a lot more required to bringing older games to new platforms than many fans might realize, and if the source code isn’t available, it can complicate matters.
As the video game industry has gotten older, there’s been a much greater focus on how to preserve old games. Companies are putting in a lot more effort, knowing that there could be an interest in future remasters, and in production materials that might have been unceremoniously tossed away, back in the day. The developers at Square had no way of knowing that there might be demand for a remaster decades later, but now that the industry as a whole knows better, there shouldn’t be an excuse for that sort of thing happening later on down the line.
Are you surprised that Square Enix lost the source code for Final Fantasy Tactics? How are you feeling about the upcoming remaster? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
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