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There is renewed excitement about the much-discussed Final Fantasy 9 remake after Square Enix launched an official Final Fantasy 9 25th Anniversary website.
The website, which is in Japanese, notes the release date of Final Fantasy 9 (July 7, 2000) and points out the game celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
“We are preparing various projects, including merchandise and collaborations to commemorate the 25th anniversary, so please look forward to it!” the website continues.
That rather innocuous statement, as well as the existence of the anniversary website itself, was enough to spark speculation that Square Enix may finally reveal the Final Fantasy 9 remake fans so desperately want.
And the timing of the website’s launch is not lost on fans who point out Nintendo is set to hold a Switch 2-focused Direct this week, on April 2. Could Square Enix finally announce Final Fantasy 9 remake for Switch 2 at the Direct? Some fans are hoping so.
Of course, this may all be nothing. The website itself mentioned merchandise and collaborations, but “various projects” has certainly set tongues wagging.
Last year, Final Fantasy 14 producer Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida talked a bit about what a Final Fantasy 9 remake might look like, warning it may not all fit in one game.
“Of course, I do know there are requests for Final Fantasy 9 to be made, but when you think about Final Fantasy 9, it’s a game with huge volume,” Yoshi-P said. “When you think about all of that volume, I wonder if it’s possible to remake that as a single title. It’s a difficult one. It is a tough question.”
Yoshi-P seemed to suggest a potential Final Fantasy 9 remake could go the direction of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which is in the middle of a planned trilogy.
Earlier in 2024, Yoshi-P announced Final Fantasy 9-themed extras for the Collector’s Edition and Digital Collector’s Edition of Final Fantasy 14 expansion Dawntrail, including Final Fantasy 9’s Ark summon as a Final Fantasy 14 mount and a wind-up Princess Garnet minion (Garnet, aka Dagger, is one of the main characters of Final Fantasy 9). If you pre-ordered Dawntrail, you got a wind-up Zidane minion. Zidane is the protagonist of Final Fantasy 9.
Speaking on-stage during PAX East alongside the announcement of these extras, Yoshi-P teased: “You may have noticed a lot of Final Fantasy 9 references here, but the reason is a secret.” He then zipped his mouth shut.
Final Fantasy 9 remake rumors have swirled around Square Enix ever since the unannounced game emerged as part of a 2021 Nvidia leak of upcoming titles. The list, confirmed legit by Nvidia but potentially outdated, includes a number of Square Enix games the company has either announced or released since, such as the Chrono Cross remaster, Kingdom Hearts 4, and of course the Final Fantasy 7 remake for PC. However, Final Fantasy 9 remake and Final Fantasy Tactics, both of which are on the leaked list of games, have yet to materialize. Just a few months before the Nvidia leak, in June 2021, a Final Fantasy 9 animated series was reported to be in development, although we haven’t heard anything about it in the years since.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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