FF9 Remake Reportedly Stalled as Yoshi-P Warns Future Remakes Need 5 Parts

The long-rumoured remake of Final Fantasy IX reportedly reached an advanced stage of development as a single, standalone game before quietly stalling out, according to RPG Site co-founder Alex Donaldson. The claim, posted on the ResetEra forums and first surfaced by tech outlet NotebookCheck, lands just days after Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida warned that any future remakes of Final Fantasy VI, VIII or IX on the scale of the Final Fantasy VII trilogy could balloon into four or five separate games apiece.

Donaldson’s ResetEra Post: FFIX Remake “Stalled Out”

Donaldson, who co-founded RPG Site and spent years as an editor at VG247 and Eurogamer before launching the independent outlet Respec this July, described the shelved project’s scope directly. Donaldson revealed that the modernized FF9 “was a single game, and it was very far along,” while noting that without explaining why, the RPG “stalled out, and it’s no longer moving forward.”

Notably, that description positions the project as a single, contained remake rather than the sprawling multi-part treatment Square Enix gave Final Fantasy VII. The information Donaldson shared matches earlier rumours from insiders like NateTheHate, who in June 2026 echoed statements about slow progress that had already prompted fears of cancellation.

Yoshida’s Berlin Warning: Older Final Fantasy Games May Need Four or Five Games Each

The Donaldson report gains extra weight given comments Yoshida made weeks earlier at the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Berlin. Yoshida suggested that if remakes of Final Fantasy VI, VIII, and IX were to happen, they would potentially be a much larger undertaking than the current Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy, requiring four or five instalments, during an on-stage conversation with Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi.

Speaking through a translator, Yoshida acknowledged fan pressure to greenlight more remakes following the success of the ongoing FFVII project. “Of course, I understand the feelings of the players, but you’ve got to think about it,” he said on stage. “Look at Final Fantasy VI; it’s such an incredibly huge game. The scale is just immense, and the same applies for other titles like Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX.”

Hamaguchi, for his part, tried to dampen any assumption that he personally is lining up to direct a Final Fantasy VI remake next, despite having named it as personally influential. Hamaguchi took part in the discussion and said Final Fantasy VI is the game that inspired him to work in games, while also wanting to make clear he is not currently remaking Final Fantasy VI, because he says people tend to read that into every interview.

From a 2021 Leak to a Halted Project: FFIX Remake’s Winding Road

Rumours of a Final Fantasy IX remake have circulated for years, tracing back to a 2021 Nvidia GeForce Now data leak that listed the project alongside other unannounced Square Enix titles. Momentum appeared to build through 2024, when multiple leakers described the game as deep in production, only for the picture to darken again by early 2026.

Industry insider Nate the Hate was the first to report the project’s apparent freeze this spring. The information came from Nate the Hate, described as one of the premier sources in the industry in 2026, who said Square Enix has halted development of its remake of Final Fantasy IX, a project first heard about back in 2024. That earlier report also noted the remake’s original ambitions were comparatively contained. At the time, the remake was described as “modest” compared to the ongoing remake of Final Fantasy 7, though modest by AAA standards still isn’t saying much.

Square Enix has continued to lean on Final Fantasy IX’s legacy in other ways even as the game side stayed silent. The publisher marked the title’s 25th anniversary throughout 2025 and into 2026 with new merchandise, music and character art rather than any remake reveal, feeding speculation among fans about what the studio actually has in the pipeline.

Square Enix’s Broader Reboot Still Leans on Its Back Catalogue

The apparent FFIX pause doesn’t mean Square Enix is abandoning classic-era remakes altogether. The publisher has continued to invest heavily in Dragon Quest, having previously outlined a broader restructuring built around fewer, higher-quality releases and tighter cost controls following a difficult run of financial results. Dragon Quest III’s HD-2D remake was a commercial hit in Japan, and further entries in that line remain on the company’s slate even as the FFIX project reportedly gathers dust.

What does appear to be shifting is Square Enix’s appetite for FFVII-style mega-remakes of its other 1990s classics specifically. Yoshida’s Berlin comments read less as a flat refusal and more as an attempt to reset expectations before fans assume Final Fantasy VI, VIII or IX are next in line for a decade-long, multi-game overhaul once Final Fantasy VII Revelation closes out the current trilogy in 2027.

For Australian and New Zealand fans, the more immediate silver lining is platform access rather than remakes. Final Fantasy VII Revelation is set to arrive in 2027 across all major modern platforms simultaneously, breaking with the timed PlayStation exclusivity that delayed local access to the first two chapters of the trilogy on Xbox and PC.

Read also: Final Fantasy Resonance Trailer Turns Warrior of Light Into a Battle-Ready Vision

Square Enix has not publicly commented on the status of any Final Fantasy IX remake, and neither Donaldson’s ResetEra post nor Nate the Hate’s earlier reporting has been officially confirmed by the publisher. Until Square Enix breaks its silence, Gaia’s return to modern hardware remains, for now, another rumour stuck in limbo.