Nowadays, it's hard to believe Final Fantasy 7 Remake was once considered unthinkable. The only major AAA franchise close to making a total reimagining of a classic game successful was Resident Evil, with Capcom releasing a remake of the first game on GameCube in 2002. In turn, Capcom's experience with the first remake ended up making one of the best video game remakes of all time in Resident Evil 2's 2019 remake. However, when the PS3 tech demo of Final Fantasy 7 eventually manifested into a fully-fledged remake on PS4, Square Enix saw great success. It wouldn't be surprising to find out that something like a Final Fantasy 9 remake exists.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake eventually coming to PC is an inevitability, but a recent Nvidia GeForce Now leak seemed to also confirmed a remake for Final Fantasy 9. Granted this is not the only surprising leak as part of the Nvidia GeForce Now leak, but a Final Fantasy 9 Remake would be a surprising announcement. Especially before Final Fantasy 7 Remake is finished, and Final Fantasy 16 hasn't released yet, announcing another acclaimed Final Fantasy remake would be a surprise to say the least. That being said, Final Fantasy 9 would be the ideal choice for a true reimagining in the wake of Final Fantasy 7 Remake's success.
A Final Fantasy 9 Remake Is The Logical Next Step
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is obviously a special case; built up over years of fan requests brought on by Square Enix itself, even if it was unintentional. That initial PS3 tech demo from 2005 impressed plenty of fans at the time, thus planting the seed for Final Fantasy 7 Remake's development. If a Final Fantasy 9 Remake is in development, then it'd be for a totally different reason: Final Fantasy 7 Remake's success is a proof of concept. Even if there hasn't been a next-gen rendering or tech demo of Final Fantasy 9 to build off of, the ninth Final Fantasy game is arguably one of the better choices for the next remake project, in comparison to other Final Fantasy games.
Both Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 9 are like two sides of the Final Fantasy coin, to some extent. Final Fantasy 7 wasn't quite the inaugural game to kick-off the sci-fi/steampunk inspired Final Fantasy games (Final Fantasy 6), but considering Final Fantasy 7 is the most popular entry of all time, its remake made sense. Final Fantasy 9 occupies a very different subsect of the Final Fantasy fandom; one that harkens back to old-school fantasy whilst still maintaining (at the time) modern tendencies. Final Fantasy 9 was a celebration of the previous NES/SNES Final Fantasy games in modern format, and few recent Final Fantasy games have captured the same spirit.
Other Final Fantasy Remakes Wouldn't Make Sense
Final Fantasy 16 seems set to do it next, but there hasn't been any previously released mainline entries, beyond Final Fantasy 9, that have harkened back to traditional Final Fantasy in the same way. There's been Final Fantasy 11 and Final Fantasy 14, but MMOs in Final Fantasy have typically been reverent of the series' origins inherently. Final Fantasy 12 came close, but that also came alongside a revamped RPG and combat system, alongside being considered underrated for a long time next to other Final Fantasy games. Plus, it certainly helps that Final Fantasy 9's story and characters are some of the best in the entire franchise.
In truth, there are very few remakes that would make particular sense as the next project after Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy 7 are drastically different games compared to surrounding releases. Final Fantasy 6 is largely where the steampunk and sci-fi inspirations came into the franchise for the first time, popularized in Final Fantasy 7. Final Fantasy 8 and Final Fantasy 10 both took on more traditional tendencies, but still had a degree of sci-fi and contemporary influence. Plus, games from Final Fantasy 10 onward, it's arguable whether or not those games are modern enough to even warrant a remake, not that fans would say no to them.
Beyond that, even if there is a Final Fantasy 9 Remake currently in production, it's likely not coming until far after Final Fantasy 7 Remake has finished. At bare minimum, Final Fantasy 16 will almost certainly release before another remake project is released. That being said, given the early success of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, it would theoretically make sense for the next remake to be Final Fantasy 9. A primarily medieval Final Fantasy game is sorely missed, and while Final Fantasy 16 might get the job done, it's not quite the same as a traditional turn-based JRPG.
Final Fantasy 9 Remake is rumored to be in development.