Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis Ends Service in October — A Three-Year Goodbye

A three-year run through the world of Final Fantasy VII is coming to an end. On July 7, Square Enix announced that FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS will shut down for good. The service ends at 11:00 PM PDT on October 6 — which is 3:00 PM on October 7 in Japan and Korea. Both the Global and Japanese versions close simultaneously, roughly three years after the game's September 2023 mobile debut.

The Essentials

The Timeline and Immediate Changes

Square Enix stopped selling the paid premium currency, Red Crystals, the moment the notice went live. Any Red Crystals players already own remain usable right up to the shutdown. In-game events and updates will continue through the final day, and downloads and new account creation stay open until close. After October 7, logins and play are disabled and server data is wiped.

A Final Gift — The Unreleased Story, Completed

The notable part is that Square Enix isn't simply pulling the plug. The studio is releasing the previously locked Before Crisis -FINAL FANTASY VII- arc across three parts before the servers go dark. Originally a 2004 Japan-only feature-phone title centered on the Turks, Before Crisis was never officially localized for the West — meaning this is effectively the first sanctioned way many overseas fans will ever play it.

Refunds

Unused paid currency (Red Crystals) will be handled through refund guidance per applicable regional law after the shutdown. Policies differ by region and storefront: some territories (Taiwan, for example) get a dedicated refund channel, while others are simply advised to spend down remaining currency. Players should read the region-specific details in the official notice before the closure.

Context — Gone Before the Remake Trilogy Ends

Ever Crisis reconstructed the entire FFVII compilation — from the original game to Crisis Core and Before Crisis — into episodic chapters, pairing chibi-styled characters with gacha-based weapon upgrades. It launched on mobile on September 7, 2023 and on Steam on December 6, 2023. Its closure lands while the sprawling Remake trilogy (following Rebirth) is still unfinished, raising questions about how Square Enix manages the compilation IP across live-service and premium releases. The publisher offered only that it had "concluded it would be difficult to continue providing a satisfactory service."

Community and Market Reaction

Reaction across fan communities is split between disappointment and a "last chance to play Before Crisis properly" sentiment. Some players criticize the timing — why release a never-localized prequel only at the very end? Others point to the recurring problem of live-service games erasing their own content, renewing calls for offline preservation or an archival build.

The GamePeak Bottom Line

Server closures are the fate of live-service games, but Ever Crisis's ending is more than a shutdown — it's the completion of a 20-year-old story. There are now fewer than three months to watch the Turks' final mission before the doors close.