Years of rumours, a 25th anniversary celebration, and still no announcement. The Final Fantasy IX remake has been one of gaming's most persistent open secrets, and now the latest word from a credible leaker suggests fans may be waiting a lot longer than anyone hoped.
Nate the Hate, a leaker with a solid track record who recently surfaced details about Nintendo's plans for 2026 and early 2027, dropped a brief but significant update in his latest podcast episode. "The last update I had on it is that the game is still on ice," he said. Short, direct, and not exactly what Final Fantasy IX fans were hoping to hear.
What 'on ice' actually means for FF9 fans
Here's the thing: "on ice" is not the same as cancelled. Push Square's Stephen Tailby flagged the specific wording as meaningful, and it is. A project sitting on ice suggests Square Enix still has interest in it but has chosen to redirect resources elsewhere for now. No one is pulling the plug, but no one is actively building Zidane's world either.
That distinction matters. The FF7 Remake trilogy has been a commercial and critical success for Square Enix, with the third and final entry reportedly still in development. The publisher knows remakes of beloved entries work. The question is timing and capacity, not whether the appetite exists.
Where the rumour started and why it stuck
The FF9 remake rumour has been circulating since the infamous Nvidia leak earlier this decade, when an internal list of unannounced games surfaced online. The vast majority of titles on that list have since been released, announced, or confirmed to have been in development at some point. FF9 was on it. That's why the community keeps revisiting this topic every few months.
Square Enix has never officially confirmed the project exists, but the circumstantial evidence has been hard to ignore. The publisher launched a dedicated 25th anniversary website for the game, which briefly reignited hopes in the community. An FF9 animated series, long delayed, has also recently resumed production with a focus on black mages. These are not the actions of a company that has completely moved on from the IP.
Square Enix's crowded plate
Context helps here. Square Enix is navigating a complicated period. Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth both launched within a relatively short window, and the publisher has publicly acknowledged that the gap between mainline Final Fantasy entries has grown too long to attract new fans at scale. FF14 director Naoki Yoshida has pointed to release cadence as a genuine concern for the franchise's ability to reach younger audiences.
With those pressures in play, it's not hard to see why a remake project, however beloved the source material, gets deprioritised. Square Enix has to decide whether its development bandwidth goes toward new mainline entries or revisiting classics, and right now the scales appear tipped toward the former.
Gaia awaits, but not yet
What comes next for the world of Alexandria
The animated series resuming production is the one thread of active FF9 energy right now. Whether that signals a broader push to revive the IP or simply reflects a long-delayed project finally crossing the finish line is unclear. Square Enix has a habit of letting its properties breathe across different media before committing to major game projects, so it's worth watching how the series develops.
For players who grew up with Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi, the wait continues. The remake isn't dead, but it isn't moving either. Square Enix recently announced Final Fantasy IX: House Grooves, a new release tied to the IP arriving in April 2026, which at least confirms the publisher hasn't forgotten the game exists. Whether that momentum translates into actual remake progress is the real question heading into the back half of the decade. Make sure to check out more:
