PlayStation may have another major Square Enix exclusive on the way, with a newly surfaced insider report suggesting that the rumored Final Fantasy 9 remake is not only real, but likely to be tied to Sony's ecosystem. This claim emerged online mere weeks ahead of the release of Final Fantasy 16, which was previously confirmed to be a timed PS5 exclusive.
Square Enix recently teased a "big announcement" for 2023, although it has yet to make good on that promise. Nevertheless, some fans took this to mean that the Final Fantasy 9 remake is coming this year. The biggest piece of evidence substantiating that theory dates back to the September 2021 Nvidia GeForce Now leak, which mentioned that game by name.
The rumor was recently given even more credibility by ResetEra user Im A Hero Too, who was previously among the first to report that the widely anticipated Persona 3 remake is happening. In a series of posts from earlier this week, this ostensible insider claimed to have seen the Final Fantasy 9 remake, adding that the game is certainly not coming to the Nintendo Switch. The source also asserted that the remake "has Sony written all over it," albeit without fully committing to that PlayStation exclusivity prediction. As for the timing of this alleged release, Im A Hero Too reported that the Final Fantasy 9 remake is at least a couple of years away from going gold.
Prior to these bits of apparent insight and the aforementioned Persona 3 remake leak, this same person also claimed that the Persona 6 release date has been delayed back in February. And while several subsequent reports substantiated that rumor, Im A Hero Too still has no track record of confirmed leaks to speak of. Their latest claims concerning the Final Fantasy 9 remake and its potential PlayStation exclusivity should hence be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Be that as it may, there's no denying that Sony could use some more PS5 system sellers in the near to medium term. This was most recently underlined by the mixed reactions to the latest PlayStation Showcase, which some fans criticized for lacking in exclusives. The May 24 event featured just two AAA PS5-only titles in the form of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Final Fantasy 16. And while the former is expected to eventually reach PC, the next Final Fantasy game is already confirmed to do so, likely in 2024.
Nevertheless, another timed PlayStation exclusive from Square Enix seems possible given Sony's historically strong relationship with the Final Fantasy maker. But whether that actually comes to pass with the rumored FF9 remake remains to be seen, and might even depend on how big of a hit Final Fantasy 16 turns out to be.
Source: ResetEra
