Toshiyuki Itahana, character designer for Final Fantasy IX, has revealed in a message to fans that he has left Square Enix after more than 30 years with the publisher, having made the decision following the 25th anniversary of the critically acclaimed PSOne RPG.
As I began thinking seriously about preparing myself to continue drawing for many years to come, I decided to leave Square Enix at the end of last year. Last year marked a major milestone with the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy IX, a truly significant event, and I was deeply grateful to see so many people celebrating FFIX.
To everyone who celebrated with us, and to those who visited the exhibitions, shops, and cafés—thank you so very much! (The Osaka collaboration café is still ongoing!) With the illustration work and supervision related to the 25th anniversary now complete, I feel a strong sense of accomplishment in having fulfilled the role entrusted to me. At the same time, I felt this was the right moment to draw a line under this chapter and take on new challenges.
Itahana-san has worked on a number of Final Fantasy games during his career outside of FFIX, including art designer on Final Fantasy XI, DLC costume designer for Final Fantasy XIII-2, and character designer for Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon 2.
Final Fantasy IX was released in 2000 for the PSOne, and unlike the previous couple of entries, takes place in a medieval fantasy world, where players follow the story of Zidane Tribal, a thief who kidnaps princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII as part of a ploy by Lindblum, a neighbouring nation. A couple of new features were introduced with FFIX, including Active Time Event cutscenes, Mognet, and skill systems.
Reports of a full remake of Final Fantasy IX have been doing the rounds for a few years now, although back in October 2025, leaked NateTheHate claimed that the project may have been put on ice, and it was unknown if Square Enix will revisit it.
[Source – Toshiyuki Itahana on Note via VGC]