Earlier today Square Enix announced via their Japanese page that Final Fantasy IX will be made available for mobile devices and PCs sometime in 2016. While not outright stating it in words, though the images found in the below trailer, it appears that Square Enix is promising greater graphics. However, they did state that they intended to bring “newly added achievements, autosave, high speed mode, and several game boosting features” to the table next year.
Originally released back in 2000, the game was one of the most beloved in the popular turn based series and sold over 5 million copies by 2003. Famous for it’s chocobo mini game as well as fan favorite black mage, Vivi, FF IX remains an ultimately somewhat overlooked treasure. Alongside the Final Fantasy VII remake also making an appearance next year, it might not bode well for the new release of this update classic.
Sadly, this announcement seems to currently pertain to a Japan only, while both a North American and European launch remains unspecified towards a vague future. And even though the announcement did not pinpoint an exact date on the 2016 calendar, it was very specific which devices it would run on:
iOS 7.0 or later
- iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s Plus.
- iPad 4th Generation, iPad Air, iPad Air 2.
- iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 3, iPad Mini 4.
- iPod Touch 6th Generation.
Android 4.1 or later–Although the game may not operate on certain devices. The announcement remains vague about this.
Be sure to double check your device’s make and model to ensure it is able to keep up with the updated graphics prior to download, and that your mobile devices have enough memory! Hopefully we will see an announcement for further releases uncorked in the New Year.