After Just Over Three Years of Service, Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis Has Ended
On October 6, 2026, at 11:00 p.m. PDT (8:00 a.m. CEST on October 7), Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis ended service after just over three years. Square Enix had announced the shutdown back in July.
Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis was a mobile gacha game that retold stories from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. It launched for Android and iOS on September 7, 2023, followed by a Steam release on December 7, 2023. Its battle system drew on the original game’s Active Time Battle system, adapted for mobile play. That made it especially appealing to fans who preferred a more command-based combat system than the action-oriented battles of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy. Square Enix itself described the system as a mobile-optimized evolution of FFVII’s ATB battles.
Rather than featuring an open world or substantial exploration, the game presented story scenes in its new visual style alongside small, linear dungeons.
It covered three central story pillars: the original Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, and the original Ever Crisis story, The First Soldier. Each was divided into chapters containing episodes that retold the story alongside matching battles.
What had been promoted as “Another Possibility for a Remake” and “An Episodic Return to FFVII’s World with a Nostalgic Visual Twist” ended with mixed results. Square Enix did bring major parts of the Final Fantasy VII compilation, including the advertised spin-offs, into Ever Crisis, but the quality of those adaptations varied quite a bit. The First Soldier felt like a substantial, more fully developed story, featuring a young Sephiroth and expanding the wider lore. Some of the other stories, however, could feel compressed and rushed through important events.
One of the biggest sources of excitement surrounding Ever Crisis was the possibility of playable adaptations of Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, and the previously Japan-only Before Crisis. Advent Children was largely the movie divided into smaller sections, with the same boss fight placed between them. Dirge of Cerberus, while also using cutscenes from the original PS2 game, included dedicated story sections built in the style of Ever Crisis.
Before Crisis was especially significant because it had never been officially released outside Japan. Unfortunately, it arrived only shortly before the end of service and was adapted into just three chapters rather than the original game’s 24 chapters. That left the impression that Square Enix rushed its release before the shutdown to fulfill a promise made during Ever Crisis’s initial announcement and to head off potential criticism.
Alongside story episodes, the game used seasonal events to keep players engaged. Events such as Beach Festival Fun!, The Holy Flame’s Gift, and A Tea Party & Festive Eggs introduced original stories tied to real-world holidays and seasons, while rewarding players with themed weapons, costumes, and wallpapers.
One of the game’s most distinctive events was Ever Crisis Academy Seven: Episode – Brawler. Originating as an April Fools’ Day joke, it reimagined the Ever Crisis cast in a high-school setting, with Barret as a gym teacher and Cloud aiming to become the Brawler: First Class.
The game also featured collaborations with titles both within the Final Fantasy franchise and beyond it. These collaborations included:
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Monster Hunter
Final Fantasy VI
DRAGON QUEST TACT
Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy
NieR series
They brought crossover stories and themed rewards, including weapons, costumes, and wallpapers.
To mark the game’s end of service, Square Enix updated it on its final day and released a “Thank You for Playing” movie. The video played automatically at startup, recapped the game’s content, and ended with new group artwork by Lisa Fujise.
Based on community feedback, many are hoping that Ever Crisis may one day return as a reworked, standalone offline release without microtransactions. That possibility feels a bit more realistic after Square Enix announced Final Fantasy Resonance, the upcoming HD-2D reimagining of the discontinued mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.
If you enjoy my Final Fantasy content, be sure to follow xEzNaFF on Instagram, Facebook, X, Threads, Bluesky, Reddit, TikTok, or YouTube so you never miss future updates!
-⚡Xe⚡
About FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS
Produced by Square Enix Co., Ltd. and developed by Applibot, FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS was available on PC via Steam, the App Store and Google Play. FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS lets players relive the most memorable moments of FINAL FANTASY VII and CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- in a nostalgic retro style with modern details. Players can dive deeper with the never-before-seen journey of a young Sephiroth and team up with fan-favorite characters and customize them with iconic gear to defeat powerful opponents in Solo and Co-Op battle modes. Since launching in 2023, FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS has reached more than 11 million downloads.
Comments