Square Enix is Shutting Down its FF7 Battle Royale Game
Battle royale games on smartphones are all over the place these days, and save for a few which have established their quality and massive popularity, a lot of them seem to come and go a lot of the time. With that said, Square Enix’s very own battle royale shooter – The First Solider – will be shutting down soon.
More specifically, the game will be closing down on January 11, 2023 (coincidentally just a few days before Google Stadia). A post on Square Enix’s official webpage confirms the planned closure, with the following message:
“After almost a year of jumping around on Chocobos, mashing it up in melee battles, and sniping from the rooftops of Midgar Undercity, it is with a heavy heart that we are announcing the end of service for FINAL FANTASY VII THE FIRST SOLDIER. We will be ending service at 07:00 UTC on January 11, 2023. Despite all our efforts to bring you regular updates with fresh and exciting content, we haven’t been able to deliver the experience that we were hoping to, and that you all deserve, so we have made the extremely tough decision to end service for FINAL FANTASY VII THE FIRST SOLDIER. We would like to thank you all for supporting us over the past year.”
Based on the available information, it seems that the game didn’t turn out to be the success that Square Enix hoped it would be. The studio did clarify though that available Shinra credits in player accounts will still be usable, although these won’t be available in the shop moving forward. Additionally, updates will still be made within the game during the three months it has left before shutting down next year.
The First Soldier was launched as one of several spin-off titles stemming from the Final Fantasy 7 franchise, which in itself has spawned countless media across games, movies, and merchandise.
Source: Square Enix