Final Fantasy 7: The First Solider is a mobile spin-off from Square Enix featuring a battle royale mode. Back in October last year, Square Enix revealed plans for the game to go offline in 2023. As of yesterday, January 11, 2023the first soldier has officially ended his service.
Despite Square Enix’s best efforts to keep the game going with new content and regular updates, the company concluded that it simply wasn’t giving players the experience it was hoping for. Therefore, we have decided to terminate the service of Final Fantasy VII First Fighter.
This service has ended on January 11, 2023.
Thank you SOLDIER candidates for playing FINAL FANTASY VII THE FIRST SOLDIER.#FF7FS pic.twitter.com/dFqmyA6p8C— FINAL FANTASY VII The FIRST SOLDIER_EN｜FF7FS (@FFVII_FS_EN) January 11, 2023
Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier takes place in Midgar, 30 years before the events of Final Fantasy 7. As a soldier, you can jump into multiplayer alone or with others to fight in familiar environments and prove that you are worthy of Shinra’s army.
Released in November 2021, the game was out for just over a year before it was eventually shut down by Square Enix. Fans of the game were sad to see it go offline, and replies to Square Enix’s tweet were filled with players who believed in the game’s potential, and had fun playing it when it was available.
One response put it perfectly, in my opinion, with MakeitL00kEZ replying, “Glad it’s here at least. I’m sure Squre Enix learned a lot, and if they explored another battle royale genre game, I’d believe it will be better.”
“I do enjoy playing. I think it’s mobile that’s holding it back, and if it’s on console or PC, it definitely helps.”
These sentiments were echoed time and time again, with responses saying they wish Square Enix had heard it, and that Final Fantasy VII: First Warrior could have done more. It’s a shame for those who loved the game, but hopefully Square Enix’s next foray into the battle royale scene will be even better.
