You may or may not be aware that we got a new Final Fantasy 7 spin-off a few years ago. Yes, in addition to Rebirth and Remake. It's called Ever Crisis, and it's a gacha game retelling the whole franchise from the ground up, and if you haven't looked into it yet, you only have a limited window since it's now being shut down.
Square Enix has announced that Ever Crisis will cease operations on October 6, 2026, implying that maintaining the game has become untenable for one reason or another. "Since the launch of the App Store and Google Play versions on September 7, 2023, and the Steam version on December 6, 2023, we have worked to provide the best possible experience for our players," a statement from the company reads.
"After careful consideration, however, we have determined that it will be difficult to continue doing so and have made the decision to end service," the post finishes. We don't have hard data across all platforms, but on Steam, Ever Crisis peaked at 4,756 concurrent players, and now averages around 500, according to SteamCharts.
Unless the mobile playerbase was remarkably different, that's low by any standards, never mind for something tied to one of the most beloved games of all time. Red Crystals, the in-game currency, are now already off sale, but you're free to use any you already have until October 6. Story events will remain until the whole thing goes dark as well, giving players a few months to experience anything they haven't already.
Besides retelling the compilation of Final Fantasy 7, there is some original material in the narrative. Sephiroth's backstory gets more fleshed out, thanks to a plotline set 15 years before the original JRPG.
This is frustratingly common practice for Square Enix – see the nebulous lore of Kingdom Hearts – and it's irritating no method of preservation has been forthcoming. The publisher commented recently that it will look at ways of keeping releases 'enjoyable' on a case-by-case basis, which may mean the best we get are official uploads of the cutscenes on YouTube.
In an added wrinkle of irony, a redo of Final Fantasy 7: Before Crisis kicked off in the latest update. Before Crisis is another mobile game, from 2004, which never released outside Japan before it was discontinued in 2018. It focused on the Turks, and it looks like it'll become lost media for the second time. Reno, Rude and the boys just can't catch a break!
You have until October to enjoy this slice of Final Fantasy 7. Then, we go back to waiting for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation.
