As a gaming culture, we’ve basically been begging for a Final Fantasy IX remake since Square Enix announced a remake for Final Fantasy VII. But for the longest time, that dream has existed purely in the imaginations of FF loyalists. But the entire situation was turned on its head when NVIDIA had that massively publicized leak last year. That unfortunate incident and modern disaster sparked the rock-solid belief that an FF9 remake was coming.
As with any leak of its kind, almost all that is a gamer hungrily consumed the vast list of unreleased ‘leaked’ titles for substantiation that a fan favorite would return – Final Fantasy IX. We’ve been watching the news, particularly where Square Enix, the game’s developer, is concerned about any shred of evidence to support that substantiation. And our theories may well have been all but confirmed over the last few months as Square Enix has been announcing a number of titles involved in the leak; one such game is Kingdom Hearts 4.
It is still merely speculation and reported chance encounters with ‘evidence’ that no longer seems to exist, but it looks like Final Fantasy IX is getting the Final Fantasy VII remake treatment after all.
The biggest supporter of the Final Fantasy IX remake theory is a rather controversial one. Numerous online game stores updated their catalogs with a curious entry – the Final Fantasy IX Remake. The release came complete with completely legitimate-looking box art, as well as pre-order selections. This move naturally got fans and FF loyalists incredibly excited about the game’s release – even though Square Enix has yet to announce it’s even in development. The release of the box art seems to have been a blunder or a cleverly orchestrated joke because the listing has since disappeared from online game stores and faded into the quiet corners of community forums.
This doesn’t mean excitement has faded. On the contrary, even verified Twitter accounts are leveling their theories based on other recent releases. One such user is Jason Schreier, who, on February 9th this year, posted: ‘The Chrono Cross remaster being real means that, per the Nvidia leak, a Final Fantasy Tactics remaster and Final Fantasy IX remake are also on their way.’
We still have no confirmation about the development of the remake from Square Enix, and it will likely stay that way until shortly before the game is released – if it is released. We are, however, hoping that since Kingdom Hearts has made its way to Nintendo Switch, Square Enix will do the same with the Final Fantasy IX remake. It is, however, pertinent to note that the FF9 remake was only on PS4 and PS5.
We’ll keep you up to date on any new leaks where the FF9 remake is concerned. In the meantime, why not check out why Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a smash hit for video game history?
