Square Enix To Take Down Its Final Fantasy VII Battle Royale Game Next Year

Square Enix will soon say goodbye to its soon-to-be short-lived Final Fantasy VII battle royale game.

The popular Japan-based video game developer has recently announced it would soon end its service for Final Fantasy VII The First SOLDIER come January 2023.

The battle royale game was released on Nov. 17, 2021, for mobile phones, meaning that the game only went online for 14 months, per Games Radar.

Final Fantasy VII The First SOLDIER Discontinuation Details

Square Enix mentioned in its announcement that it is discontinuing the game due to the company being unable to "deliver the experience" they want to give and all the content the players deserve.

This same message was also posted on the game's official English Twitter page to better disseminate the game's closure to players worldwide.

However, the game won't stay the way it is now until its servers are shut down. Square Enix will still make updates during the game's final months, presumably to give its players the chance to say goodbye to the game with a bang.

Although Square Enix didn't mention what kind of updates it will bring to the soon-to-be discontinued game, Game Radar mentioned in its report that the company would add new content to it regardless.

Final Fantasy VII The First SOLDIER Details and Discontinuation Dates

Square Enix mentioned that it would start Final Fantasy VII The First SOLDIER's discontinuation process on Oct. 12. During this time, players will be unable to acquire Shinra Credits from the in-game shop.

However, players that do have Shinra Credits on their account can still use them until the servers are shut down.

Afterward, the company will officially discontinue the game on Jan. 11, 2023, at 3 AM EST. At that point, the servers for the game will be taken down and will be offline for good, rendering the game unplayable.

Considering that the game was released on Nov. 17, 2021, the game only stayed online for a year and two months - a duration longer than another Square Enix live-service game, Babylon's Fall.

You may remember that Square Enix took down Babylon's Fall, a live-service game released in March 2022, due to a lack of players. According to Gamebyte's article, Babylon's Fall will be offline in February 2023, meaning that the game was barely a year before it was taken down.

For those unaware of Final Fantasy VII The First SOLDIER, it is a battle royale game set before the events of Final Fantasy VII. It showed the Shinra Company's drive to create the SOLDIER program, which Zack Fair and Sephiroth belonged to during Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

Players took the role of SOLDIER candidates, who need to defeat each other to prove themselves worthy of a spot in the elite SOLDIER unit.

Unlike other battle royale games, The First SOLDIER allows players to choose "styles" to specialize their character on.

Though the game lacked popularity, it still attracted a small following due to its connection to the main Final Fantasy VII games.