Final Fantasy Tactics remaster reportedly “real and happening”, giving hope for one of the series’ finest to finally come to PC
Despite director saying there were “no plans” for a re-release of the tactical spin-off
A remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics, the grid-based strategy spin-off from the RPG series that easily ranks as one of the best Final Fantasy games ever made, is reportedly in the works - giving hope of its first official PC release.
Rumours have abounded about a remaster or re-release of Final Fantasy Tactics since at least 2021, when a list of games datamined from Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service leaked out, including PlayStation exclusives like God of War - which has since come to PC - alongside apparent ports of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Final Fantasy 9 and FF Tactics. Nvidia later confirmed the list was real, but described the titles as “speculative” releases rather than confirmation of their existence.
Talk of a Tactics remaster has been kicking around for a while, and recently came back into discussion in the wake of the recent drama around prolific Persona and JRPG leaker Midori, who revealed themselves to be a previously blacklisted male American leaker who resurfaced under the guise of a Japanese woman (complete with tweets apparently composed deliberately in broken English, ew). Prior to their admittance of being a fraud, Midori had been sharing apparent details about a Final Fantasy Tactics remaster. (Thanks, Eurogamer.)
Though the truth of the Tactics remaster was called into question following Midori’s fall from grace - the account was also found to have made inaccurate claims about upcoming RPG Visions of Mana - Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier jumped in to add some weight to the claims.
“The Final Fantasy Tactics remaster is real and happening,” Schreier responded to a thread discussing the credibility of the details on Reddit.
Schreier’s report - brief as it is - contrasts comments made by Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno in December, when he told a fan on TwiXer that “currently, there are no plans for remastering [Tactics]”.
If a Tactics remake does find its way onto PC, it’ll mark the first time that the 1997 spin-off has been officially available to play away from the original PlayStation. A revamped version of Tactics, subtitled The War of the Lions, featuring full-motion cutscenes, an expanded roster of characters and multiplayer, as well as a 16:9 resolution, was released for the PlayStation Portable in 2007, before later finding its way onto mobile.
The closest that Tactics has come to PC to date is MMO Final Fantasy XIV, which used its world of Ivalice (shared with Final Fantasy 12) and an alternative storyline as inspiration for the Return to Ivalice series of raids.