The rumored Final Fantasy 9 remake is said to have stalled despite once being very far along. Final Fantasy 9 remains one of the most celebrated entries in Square Enix’s long-running RPG franchise, recently celebrating its 25th anniversary.
For many years, rumors of a Final Fantasy 9 remake have circulated online, with speculation becoming particularly intense around the original game’s 25th anniversary in 2025. Square Enix celebrated the milestone with new artwork, merch, music, and other commemorative releases, but no game announcement ever materialized. Originally released in 2000, Final Fantasy 9 marked a return to the franchise’s traditional fantasy roots after the futuristic settings of Final Fantasy 7 and 8. Its beloved cast of characters, including Zidane, Vivi, Garnet, and Steiner, has helped the game maintain a dedicated following for over two decades, and it still ranks high on lists of the best Final Fantasy games.
Final Fantasy 9 Remake Reportedly No Longer Moving Forward
RPG Site founder Alex Donaldson recently claimed that Square Enix had a remake of Final Fantasy 9 in development, but work eventually stopped for reasons that remain unclear. Donaldson provided the update in a ResetEra discussion surrounding comments from Final Fantasy 14 director and producer Naoki Yoshida about the difficulty of remaking older entries. According to Donaldson’s post, the project was “very far along” before stalling and is now not moving forward. However, the editor stopped short of saying it had been permanently canceled. As of now, there is no explanation for why the development stopped, leaving fans with open questions about whether the decision was related to cost, scope, staffing, or a broader shift in Square Enix’s priorities.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Easy (5)Medium (7)Hard (10)
A particularly notable detail Donaldson disclosed is that the rumored Final Fantasy 9 remake was apparently intended to be released as a single game. Yoshida recently suggested that recreating legacy Final Fantasy titles like Final Fantasy 6, 8, or 9 at the scale of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy could require multiple installments, but Donaldson says the FF9 project was not being developed with that approach. Instead, it reportedly had a smaller scope, allowing the full adventure to fit into a single release.
The RPG Site founder also claimed that artwork created as possible key art or box art for the remake was later repurposed for Final Fantasy 9‘s anniversary campaign. Donaldson claims that seeing those images released separately led him to suspect that the project had run into trouble. Square Enix has never confirmed that any of its anniversary artwork came from an abandoned or stalled remake, or that a FF9 remake even existed in the first place, so fans should treat that claim with a grain of salt. However, it could help explain why the anniversary celebration featured so much new artwork and material, yet ultimately did not lead to the major game announcement many fans expected.
Despite the disappointing news, the latest report does leave some room for hope. The veteran journalist does emphasize that Square Enix has previously revived projects after lengthy periods of inactivity, such as Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy, and that whatever work was completed on the rumored remake presumably still exists. For now, though, describing the Final Fantasy 9 remake as no longer moving forward suggests fans should lower expectations for an imminent reveal.
- Released
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July 7, 2000
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Violence, Mild Language