Live service games, or, in layman’s terms, games as a service, have been the most controversial genre in recent years. The reasoning behind this is that studios have gotten lazy over time and end up releasing an unfinished title and fixing it over time, which consumers have now gotten sick of. They also have the highest risk of EOS, as they could stop being successful and a studio pulls the plug, or stop supporting it. Either way, they aren’t very well-liked, and now the most recent one, Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis, from Square Enix, is shutting down after 3 years of service. The reasoning behind the shutdown is that they are unable to continue supporting it and have decided to pull the plug. FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS will end service on Oct. 6, 2026, at 11:00 PM PDT.
Important: End of Service (1/5)
After careful consideration, we have decided to end the service of FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS on Oct. 6, 2026, at 11:00 PM PDT. Thank you for playing the game over the years.
Full announcementhttps://t.co/jfEIB9nJ8Q#FF7EC
— FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS_EN｜FF7EC (@FFVII_EC_EN) July 8, 2026
FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS was originally released on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store back in September 2023. It would later be released on Steam in December 2023. The game itself was a free-to-play, chapter-based RPG. It retold the entire compilation of the Final Fantasy 7 series, with updates to match modern games. The game was also a gacha game, so it had gambling mechanics that allowed the game to make money. And now, after 3 years, the game will end its service. The management team released a message stating that, after careful consideration, they can no longer provide players with the best possible experience and have therefore chosen to shut down the game. “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 decision kinda came out of nowhere, as even the team acknowledges, but it’s not as surprising as many live-service games have been struggling a lot lately due to players not having time or money.
Game shutdowns are always the worst possible outcome, especially in the current state of gaming, as they lead to layoffs or overall studio problems. There isn’t anything known about what will happen once the game EOS, but it wouldn’t come as a surprise. And this isn’t the first game to be shut down by Square Enix. They have announced other shutdowns earlier this year. Even though FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS is a live-service gacha game, it still sucks that the game will be shutting down, as it was a way to experience the complete Final Fantasy 7 universe with modern hardware. FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS will end service on Oct. 6, 2026, at 11:00 PM PDT, and you can play until then. Any leftover currency can be used until shutdown, and the game will be updated with new events through the end date, so if you wanna give it one more go or try it out for the first time, you have until Oct. 6.