The director of Final Fantasy 14 has sparked renewed rumors of a Final Fantasy 9 remake.
Speaking during PAX East, Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida 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-order Dawntrail, you get a wind-up Zidane minion. Zidane is the protagonist of Final Fantasy 9.
Final Fantasy 9-themed bonuses for Final Fantasy 14 wouldn’t be much to write home about on their own, but it’s what Yoshi-P said on-stage alongside their announcement that has truly set tongues wagging. “You may have noticed a lot of Final Fantasy 9 references here, but the reason is a secret,” he said before zipping 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 The list, confirmed legit by Nvidia but potentially outdated, includes a number of Square Enix games the company has either announced or released since, such as the Chrono Cross remaster, Kingdom Hearts 4, and of course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.
Rather than a Final Fantasy 9 remake, Yoshi-P may instead have teased a crossover event between Final Fantasy 14 and Final Fantasy 9, or hinted at the reemergence of the Final Fantasy 9 animated series. But that hasn’t stopped fans from getting excited about the prospect of seeing the 2000 PSone classic role-playing game reborn.
Square Enix is of course busy remaking Final Fantasy 7, with the second entry in the trilogy, Rebirth, recently released. Square Enix is now looking ahead to the final part of the trilogy, which based on the current pace of development may not be finished until roughly 2028. If that ends up being the case, the third part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake may well be a PlayStation 6 launch title, if Sony’s comments about the PS5 being in the “latter stage” of its life cycle are anything to go by.
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.