Earlier today, Square Enix delivered the unfortunate news that Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier would be discontinued on January 11, 2023. At approximately 12 a.m. PT/3 a.m. ET/8 a.m. BST, servers for the battle royale game will be taken offline for good, and the game will be entirely unplayable.
[End of Service Notice]We are regretful to announce that we will be ending service for FINAL FANTASY VII THE FIRST SOLDIER at 07:00 UTC on January 11, 2023.We would like to thank you all for all your support over the past year.https://t.co/XvNOVv2EVs#FF7FS pic.twitter.com/aNVI4iHle4October 12, 2022
However, that doesn’t mean new content for The First Soldier is ending immediately. Square Enix actually plans on adding new content to the battle royale game in the handful of months left until the servers are gone for good, although the developer doesn’t elaborate on what content in particular will be coming to the mobile title.
Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier’s shutdown will come less than 15 months after it first launched. The mobile title stealth-launched in mid-November 2021, with pre-registration for users around the world on Android and iOS devices opening up a number of weeks prior to the final launch date.
It’ll be interesting to see whether this announcement leads to an outcry from Final Fantasy fans at large. Although the battle royale game evidently isn’t popular enough for Square Enix, it did attract a small following after launch, chiefly because its story actually takes place 30 years prior to the main events of Final Fantasy 7, depicting Shinra’s drive to create the Soldier program, which would eventually embroil Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, and others.
Despite The First Soldier’s unfortunate end, we’ve still got plenty more Final Fantasy-related projects to look forward to in the immediate future, including Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion later this year in December, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth later next year in late 2023, and rounding out the trio is Final Fantasy 16 in Summer 2023.
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