Final Fantasy IX Remake Is Reportedly Almost Done, but There's Bad News
Square Enix had a nearly finished Final Fantasy IX remake in its hands—and decided to lock it away. Sometimes, game over hits before the opening cutscene even rolls.
Journalist Alex Donaldson, a respected RPG press figure via RPGSite and Respec, dropped a bombshell on ResetEra this week. According to him, a full-blown Final Fantasy IX remake—not a trilogy, just one game—was “very far along” in development before Square Enix pulled the plug. This strategic U-turn comes as the publisher puts the finishing touches on Final Fantasy VII Revelation.
Image credit: Square Enix
A “very advanced” project, suddenly axed
The details Donaldson shared leave little room for doubt. The Final Fantasy IX remake wasn’t just a prototype or some early brainstorming—it had reached a late stage of development, with a clearly defined scope. Unlike Final Fantasy VII Remake and its trilogy stretched over nearly a decade, this remake was meant to be a single, self-contained game. Tighter, truer to the original’s spirit, and theoretically easier to finish.
Yet, for reasons Donaldson himself calls “a story for another day,” the project screeched to a halt. No one’s working on it anymore. One more bitter clue: artwork created as potential box art and key art for the remake was posted on Square Enix’s social media for the game’s 2025 anniversary. To Donaldson, that’s a sign that the publisher now sees these assets as orphaned material—good for nostalgia posts, not for a future reveal. The project was even part of the infamous 2021 Nvidia GeForce Now database leak, alongside games like Resident Evil 4 Remake and Kingdom Hearts IV—titles that actually saw the light of day. Final Fantasy IX remains one of the last names on that list never to be officially announced.
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Square Enix pivots: no more remakes, time for new stories
Behind the scrapping of this remake lies a much bigger strategic shift. According to Donaldson, Square Enix now believes remakes offer “diminishing returns” and are no longer the best way to grow the Final Fantasy franchise. Once Final Fantasy VII Revelation drops in 2027, the Japanese publisher plans to close the book on revivals and focus on brand-new stories. Donaldson sums up the current philosophy bluntly: “If you want to grow the franchise, remakes probably aren’t the answer.”
This direction echoes Yoshida’s comments on the franchise’s future. At the end of July, the Final Fantasy XIV producer cooled fan expectations by saying that remakes of Final Fantasy VI, VIII, or IX would require “four, maybe five episodes”—even more than the FF7 Remake trilogy. A diplomatic way of saying the business case just doesn’t add up anymore. The era of massive remakes seems to be ending at Square Enix, and the publisher’s new organizational structure confirms this direction. Donaldson also notes that Yoshida is known for “disguising his teases as speculation,” and his hints about Naoki Hamaguchi leading a possible Final Fantasy XVII reflect the company’s current plan.
A glimmer of hope? Remember Dissidia
All may not be lost. Even Donaldson tempers his pessimism with a telling precedent: the mobile game Dissidia spent nearly a year in cancellation limbo before Square Enix brought it back to life. The work done on the remake still exists on the publisher’s servers, ready to be revived if the winds change. Here’s what we know about the current situation:
- Development is completely halted, with no restart date
- The assets and work already done haven’t been destroyed
- Square Enix has never officially confirmed or denied the project
- The Dissidia precedent shows the publisher can resurrect shelved projects
Still, Square Enix’s internal culture—described by Donaldson as historically “very changeable”—cuts both ways. What’s dead today might rise tomorrow, but what’s planned can just as easily vanish. The publisher has spent the last decade restructuring its teams, and Square Enix’s strategy with its cult franchises finally seems to be stabilizing—for better or worse, depending on your camp.
Pulling the plug on such an advanced project is a risky bet, especially when Final Fantasy IX remains one of the saga’s most beloved entries, 26 years after release. Fans of Zidane and Garnet will have to hang tight, hoping Square Enix eventually realizes this nearly finished remake deserves better than a dusty drawer.
