"Final Fantasy 9 25th Anniversary Sparks Rumors of Switch 2 Remake at Nintendo Direct"

The excitement surrounding the long-rumored Final Fantasy 9 remake has surged once again with the launch of Square Enix's official Final Fantasy 9 25th Anniversary website. The site, entirely in Japanese, commemorates the game's initial release on July 7, 2000, and highlights that 2025 marks its 25th anniversary.

"We are preparing various projects, including merchandise and collaborations to commemorate the 25th anniversary, so please look forward to it!" the website states, fueling speculation about a potential announcement of the much-anticipated remake.

The timing of the website's launch has not gone unnoticed, particularly with Nintendo's upcoming Switch 2-focused Direct scheduled for April 2. Some fans are speculating that Square Enix might seize the opportunity to unveil the Final Fantasy 9 remake for the Switch 2 during this event.

However, the mention of "various projects" on the anniversary website could simply refer to merchandise and collaborations, as explicitly stated. Yet, the ambiguity has certainly stirred excitement among fans.

In 2023, Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida, the producer of Final Fantasy 14, discussed the challenges of remaking Final Fantasy 9. He pointed out the game's vast scope and questioned whether it could be remade as a single title, suggesting it might require a multi-part approach similar to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which is being released as a trilogy.

Adding to the buzz, earlier in 2024, Yoshi-P announced Final Fantasy 9-themed bonuses for the Collector’s Edition and Digital Collector’s Edition of the Final Fantasy 14 expansion, Dawntrail. These include the Ark summon as a mount and a wind-up Princess Garnet minion. Pre-orders of Dawntrail also came with a wind-up Zidane minion. During PAX East, alongside these announcements, Yoshi-P teased the heavy Final Fantasy 9 references by saying, "You may have noticed a lot of Final Fantasy 9 references here, but the reason is a secret,” and then humorously zipped his mouth shut.

Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Final Fantasy 9 Bonuses

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Rumors of a Final Fantasy 9 remake have been circulating since a 2021 Nvidia leak that included a list of unannounced games, confirmed legitimate by Nvidia but potentially outdated. This list featured several Square Enix titles that have since been released or announced, such as the Chrono Cross remaster, Kingdom Hearts 4, and the Final Fantasy 7 remake for PC. However, the Final Fantasy 9 remake and Final Fantasy Tactics, also listed, remain unconfirmed. Additionally, a few months prior to the Nvidia leak, in June 2021, reports surfaced about a Final Fantasy 9 animated series in development, though no further updates have been provided since.