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Square Enix is ending service for Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, bringing another live-service mobile game to a close. But instead of simply talking about the shutdown, I want to ask a bigger question:

Why was Ever Crisis never released on consoles?

The game retold iconic moments from Final Fantasy VII while introducing new story content, yet it remained locked to mobile and PC despite the massive console audience for the franchise. Could a console version have changed its fate?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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Transcript
00:00Square Enix is shutting down Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis before the remake trilogy concludes.
00:07Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, the mobile and PC RPG that expanded the wider Final
00:14Fantasy VII universe, will officially shut down later this year.
00:18According to a statement from producer Soichi Echikawa on the game's official website, the decision came after the development team
00:26struggled to maintain a sustainable balance between production cost and player demand for new characters, weapons, and equipment.
00:34Players will still have several months to experience the game before the servers permanently close on October 6th.
00:41Released in 2023, Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis was designed as more than a mobile remake of the original Final
00:47Fantasy VII.
00:48The game featured a streamlined version of the classic RPG's combat system, while bringing together storylines from across the franchise,
00:56including Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core, Before Crisis, and other entries in the expanded universe.
01:03The game also introduced new narrative content, expanded Sephiroth's history, and added original characters who eventually became connected to the
01:11broader Final Fantasy VII Remake storyline.
01:14Alongside its serious story moments, Ever Crisis also featured more unusual alternate scenarios, including lighter stories that reimagine the cast
01:23in completely different settings.
01:25This is not the first time Square Enix has attempted to expand the Final Fantasy VII brand through a mobile
01:31title, only to shut the project down.
01:33In 2023, the company ended service for Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier, a Battle Royale spinoff that launched in
01:412021 during the height of the genre's popularity.
01:44Although the game's end is approaching, Square Enix says that Ever Crisis's team still has plans for its remaining months.
01:52Developers will bring back previous events and release a final story update intended to provide a proper conclusion for players
01:59who have followed the game since launch.
02:00The shutdown has disappointed some fans, especially those who enjoyed the game's unique costumes, character designs, and additional lore.
02:09Some players have expressed hope that elements from Ever Crisis, including its outfits and story concepts, could eventually appear in
02:17future Final Fantasy VII projects.
02:19With the final installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy still in development, the closure of Ever Crisis marks
02:27the end of another attempt by Square Enix to expand one of its most popular franchises through a long-term
02:32mobile experience.
02:35It sounds like you're going after the long-term mobile experience.
02:38It sounds like you're going after the long market for mobile.
02:43I don't know many mobile gamers that want something that's going to be tied down to a Final Fantasy game
02:51if this game is as long as normal Final Fantasy games are, or were.
02:57You know, if this game is as long as, you know, 15-20 hours, I don't see many people caring.
03:06And they said this isn't the first mobile game that they had to shut down with Final Fantasy.
03:11Why aren't they bringing this to the console?
03:14I would think it would do better there.
03:19And maybe make it free to play, but make it, you know, like the other Final Fantasy games, like the
03:29Final Fantasy VII trilogy.
03:32It's, you know, make it where it doesn't have to be online.
03:41One price gets everything.
03:44I would just think it would do better on console.
03:49Especially if it's the average length of a Final Fantasy game.
03:54I just don't know.
03:55Many mobile players that I would know, you know, they'll, yeah, they'll play that game.
03:59They'll play it for like 10, 15, 20 minutes at a time.
04:02But you know how many times you're going to have to play that game if this is a normal Final
04:06Fantasy in length?
04:08If you're playing it like in 10, 15, 20 minute bursts?
04:13So I'm just thinking, especially with this not being the first mobile project that shut down from Final Fantasy VII,
04:20I'm just wondering, why isn't this stuff being brought to console?
04:24I mean, you know, you can't, okay, we don't have the PSPU, we don't have the PS Vita.
04:32I don't even think the 3DS is a thing anymore.
04:34I think that's done ever since the Switch came out.
04:39But bring it to consoles.
04:42Why are we putting Final Fantasy games on mobile?
04:49But, you know, I've never gotten into mobile gaming, but the games that I have played and enjoyed, they were
04:55games that, like, you play for 5, 10 minutes.
04:57So it's kind of like, you know, I just don't see the appeal of Final Fantasy games appearing on mobile.
05:07And maybe with this being the second mobile project that shut down, maybe this is getting, maybe this is actually
05:15delivering the message.
05:19But, at the same time, I can see the appeal, I can technically see, I can see the appeal of,
05:27you already have your phone.
05:28So you don't have to buy a Switch or a PlayStation.
05:33But, wouldn't you already have that if you were a fan of Final Fantasy?
05:38Wouldn't you at least have a Switch or a PlayStation 5?
05:42Or even, um, if, or even the PS4 at least?
05:48Although I don't think they make games for PS4 anymore.
05:51I think they finally finished that, uh, bringing games to both systems.
05:58But, I just don't understand, I just don't understand what audience, what audiences were clamoring, um, for a mobile Final
06:08Fantasy game.
06:09If you want it to play on the go, you can just get it on Switch now.
06:13Or, you should try to get it on Switch.
06:16And when I say you should try to get it on Switch, I mean the people who made it.
06:21Um, so, yeah, um, it sucks that they're shutting this down, but they're not, they're not out yet.
06:28Uh, it's one, uh, there's still, um, some more content to come out for that, um, game before it does
06:33shut down.
06:37Um, so, but unfortunately, yeah, this is gonna be the second Final Fantasy game on mobile shut down.
06:47Next.
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