Square Enix is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy 9, but many fans aren’t satisfied with the announcements.
A remake of Final Fantasy 9 has been rumoured ever since the Nvidia leak in 2021, but it’s still unclear whether the project is actually in development.
Many fans held out hope for the role-player’s 25th anniversary, which is today, as the perfect time for Square Enix to announce its existence. However, while the developer has marked the occasion with some fanfare, there’s no sign of a remake.
In a blog post for the anniversary, Square Enix revealed new pieces of artwork by character designer Toshiyuki Itahana, along with a short tribute video, but no remake.
To further mark the occasion, Final Fantasy 9 is 70% off across Steam and the Nintendo eShop, at £4.79 and £5.09, respectively. An anniversary vinyl is also available to pre-order, featuring a mix of original tracks and newly recorded versions, along with a picture book centred around mage character Vivi Ornitier.
If you take a peek below the announcement post however, the comments are littered with disgruntled fans clamouring for a remake. ‘Can we all celebrate together with a remake?’ wrote one commenter on X.
Another added: ‘Anything else you’d like to do to celebrate?’ Over on Facebook, even the official account for Domino’s Pizza has joined in the cries.
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As to whether a remake is actually still in development, reliable insider NateTheHate recently claimed that it might’ve been cancelled, although he said he still needed to ‘verify’ the information.
‘As of last check it remains in development, to my knowledge,’ he wrote on ResetEra. ‘But I need to do a fresh check and see what a more current status is – as I did hear a month or so ago that it was in trouble and possibly cancelled. I only had one source on the cancellation possibility and need to verify the info further.’
It’s never been clear if the original Nvidia leak was referring to a ‘remake’ on the scale of Final Fantasy 7 Remake or something closer to a remaster, but if it has been cancelled, that might suggest it was somewhat substantial.
Last year, Square Enix announced it would be more ‘selective’ with its game projects moving forward. after cancelling several unannounced titles – so it’s possible a Final Fantasy 9 remake was caught in the firing line.
As for other games in the series, Square Enix is currently working on the follow-up to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Earlier this year, the studio announced it had finished writing the plot for the closing chapter of the trilogy, but no release date has been announced.
The first game in the remake trilogy will be coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S later this year, although neither version has a release date yet.
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