Summary
Fans who had been patiently awaiting confirmation of a release date forFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthwere rewarded at the September PlayStation State of Play with the announcement of the game’s arrival on June 22, 2025. Now that the release ofRebirthis just a few short months away, the big question surrounding the franchise is “what’s next?”, as it will likely be several years between the release ofFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthand the third game in theFinal Fantasy 7 Remaketrilogy. With the next release under theFinal Fantasybanner anyone’s best guess, the rumor mill is starting to churn again regarding other potential remake projects.
Square Enix itself has been open about several of its key developers wishing to comb the company’s impressive back catalog for potential game remakes, and the most recent of these to join the conversation is thebudding rumor ofFinal Fantasy 10being considered. Truthfully, though,Final Fantasy 10/10-2 HDis a great showcase for how well both games still hold up in a modern context, meaning there are other, more likely candidates for the remake treatment. In terms of whichFinal Fantasygame Square Enix should focus on releasing next, that honor goes to the long-rumored remake ofFinal Fantasy 9.
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The History of the Final Fantasy 9 Remake Rumor
The first mention fans got of a potentialFinal Fantasy 9remake came from the notorious Nvidia GeForce Now leak, which mistakenly revealed the existence of several as-yet unannounced titles currently in development. Although Nvidia itself came out and claimed that the leak contained several false titles, several of these have since been confirmed or even released, highlighting the very real possibility that fans might see theFinal Fantasy 9remakecome to fruition. The existence of the remake was also supported by the reveal of aFinal Fantasy 9animated series that was supposedly in development, with the assumption being that the remade version of the game would accompany the airing of the first season.
The rumor of theFinal Fantasy 9remake began to gain more traction earlier this year following the release ofFinal Fantasy 16, with known industry insiders confirming the title’s existence but claiming ignorance regarding what form the remake would take. Whether theFinal Fantasy 9remake will be a smaller-scale project similar to the remake ofCrisis Coreor a full-fledged re-imagining along the lines oftheFinal Fantasy 7remake trilogyis still unknown. Considering the length of time that aFinal Fantasy 9remake has been rumored, it gives some credence to the idea that fans will see it sooner than the potential remakes ofFinal Fantasy TacticsorFinal Fantasy 10.
Why Final Fantasy 9 Deserves the Remake Treatment Before Other Games
Regardless of the likelihood thatFinal Fantasy 9’s remake will release before Square Enix tackles another entry from its back catalog, there’s the argument that it deserves a remake more than the other rumored projects.Final Fantasy Tactics' use of beautifully designed pixel art sprites over 3D backgrounds has aged better than most PS1-era games, andFinal Fantasy 10still holds upas one of the best looking and playing RPGs from the sixth hardware generation.Final Fantasy 9is by no means a slouch in the visual department, but imagining what this fan-favorite game in the series might look like with modern visuals is a tempting prospect.
Outside its potential technical upgrades and modern visual polish,Final Fantasy 9is one of the most “Final Fantasy”-feeling games in the entire series. Considering the polarizingfan response toFinal Fantasy 16and many fans lamenting the loss of the staples that came to define the series over its long history, a remake ofFinal Fantasy 9seems like the perfect type of “return to form” fan service that the original was on the PS1 23 years ago.Final Fantasy 9was a breath of fresh air then, and the remake has every potential to be the same now.
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