New rumors about a Final Fantasy IX remake have suddenly surfaced online. Although Square Enix has never officially announced the project, many insiders have claimed for years that a remake does indeed exist within the studio. The source of this information is Alex Donaldson (known as APZonerunner), a journalist and editor at VG247 and RPGSite. He shared new details about the game in discussions on the ResetEra forum, asserting that the remake definitely existed at one point.
According to Donaldson, the creators chose a path distinctly different from the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy from the very beginning. Despite the game world being relatively smaller in scale, the Final Fantasy IX remake was intended to be a complete, standalone story. The journalist asserted that development of the remake had once progressed "very deeply," with the project reaching its final stages of production. Previously, even producer Naoki Yoshida had hinted at ongoing development in interviews using subtle implications. However, unexpected changes subsequently occurred. Donaldson explained that due to various reasons, the game's production hit a bottleneck, and the project is currently effectively paused or frozen.
Furthermore, the insider admitted that the moment he became convinced the game was "really not happening" in the short term was when Square Enix released a series of commemorative illustrations on social media to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original Final Fantasy IX. According to information held by the journalist, these artworks were originally created by the studio specifically as key visual promotional banners and cover mockups for the upcoming remake. The fact that they were merely released online as anniversary congratulatory images is itself quite suspicious.
The current status of the remake remains unclear, but it is more likely that production of the Final Fantasy IX remake has been put on hold. Donaldson emphasized that all technical assets and development materials are still sitting on the company's servers, waiting for the right time to see the light of day. Square Enix now needs to complete the final chapter of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy before it can turn its attention back to reviving the Final Fantasy IX project.