The long-rumored Final Fantasy 9 remake is currently stalling and no longer moving forward, according to an unconfirmed report from veteran games journalist Alex Donaldson of RPGsite and Respec.
Source Reliability
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Donaldson's remarks carry weight due to his established track record covering Square Enix projects, though the development status remains officially unconfirmed by the publisher.
Development Status and Past Reports
Per Donaldson's comments, the single-game Final Fantasy 9 project was quite far along in development before grinding to a halt. However, Donaldson points out that similar projects can recover, noting that the new mobile Dissidia game was canceled for over a year before its eventual revival. At the same time, anniversary box art and key art were recently tweeted out, and earlier this year, another source reported the JRPG project was on ice with no new movement from Square Enix.
Yoshida's Teasers and Franchise Context
Donaldson's remarks accompanied a broader discussion of a Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest panel featuring director and producer Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida and Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead Naoki Hamaguchi. During the panel, Yoshida noted that remakes of classic titles like Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 8, and Final Fantasy 9 would likely require four or five installments, comparing them to the FF7 trilogy. He also discussed fan desire for Hamaguchi to direct Final Fantasy 17.
Yoshida previously described the reasoning behind Final Fantasy 9 references in the Dawntrail expansion as "a secret." According to Donaldson, Yoshida often uses such remarks to disguise speculation as teases, which could signal that pressing ahead with a massive single-game FF9 remake has proven too difficult under current circumstances.