BODY: Square Enix has confirmed that Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, the free-to-play RPG for Android, iOS, and PC, will shut down at 3:00 p.m. JST on October 7. The announcement brings a definitive end date to a game that launched in September 2023 with an ambitious pitch: to retell the entire Final Fantasy VII saga in bite-sized, gacha-driven chapters.
Marketed as "another possibility for the Remake," Ever Crisis was designed to run parallel to the big-budget Remake console trilogy. It compressed the original 1997 story, the prequel Crisis Core, and other spin-offs into episodic battles rendered in a charming chibi art style that shifted to detailed models during combat.
The game leaned heavily on its gacha weapon system for monetization, a model that drew steady criticism from players who felt the beloved FF7 story was being paywalled. Square Enix has not detailed the exact wind-down schedule for in-game currency refunds or final story content, though such information typically follows in staggered announcements ahead of the shutdown date.
For fans, the closure means the interactive version of these stories will vanish, leaving only the console Remake series to carry the torch forward.
The insider take
From Tokyo, this shutdown reads as part of a broader pattern. Square Enix has spent the past two years openly restructuring, culling underperforming live-service titles to focus on its flagship franchises and higher-margin single-purchase games. Ever Crisis never generated the sustained revenue of rivals like Genshin Impact, and running a live-ops team for a mobile FF7 spin-off while the console Remake trilogy consumes resources was always a tension. Expect the company to funnel remaining goodwill toward the still-unnamed final chapter of the Remake series.
Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).