Final Fantasy has been riding high in popularity in the past few years, and the Square Enix staff are eagerly pushing producer Yoshinori Kitase to begin development on remake for Final Fantasy VI. A roundtable for Final Fantasy creators and producers was held in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Final Fantasy franchise, and the recent release of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection. The topic of a Final Fantasy VI Remake came up at one point during the discussion, to which producer Kitase gave his response.
“I think FF6 Remake would be difficult, FF7 Remake is not yet finished so I am not able to think about it… But for FF6 there are many FF6 fans inside the company and they often ask me ‘when are we making 6?’”
Kitsae who was the director for Final Fantasy VI, and other Final Fantasy titles, is currently focused solely on Final Fantasy VII Remake, which is set to be a trilogy of entries, with the second, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth releasing in 2024. Among other things, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi remarked that adapting VI into a modern remake would be “difficult.” Of course when VII released in 1997, it introduced 3D models and CG cutscenes, becoming the first Final Fantasy entry to partially ditch pixel graphics.
With remakes and remasters becoming a popular focus for many developers in recent years getting to reimagine their games that were limited to the technology of the time, Square Enix is reportedly working on another mainline entry remake, specifically Final Fantasy IX. Back in 2021 a GeForce Now leak listed swath of unannounced titles, many of which evidently were confirmed legit, among them Final Fantasy IX being on the list. While there’s no confirmation, journalist Jeff Grubb said on his podcast Game Mess Mornings, “Final Fantasy IX Remake is real. That is real and happening.”
Released in 1994 for the SNES, Final Fantasy VI has remained among many, one of the best RPG’s ever made. Its legacy still remains popular today.