Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier shuts down its servers for good

In unfortunate news, the roughly a year-and-some-change-old battle royale Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, set within the legendary Final Fantasy 7’s world and developed by the equally legendary Square Enix themselves, has officially closed its doors and shut down its servers.

It’s always a bummer to see a mobile game shut down, but this one cuts especially deep given that The First Soldier is so young and had a lot of potential. This third-person shooter battle royale saw you take on the role of a Shinra soldier in training, going through a VR simulation to do battle against other recruits.

The service has ended on January 11th, 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

The First Soldier had a lot of interesting ideas, mixing together PVP and PVE quite well, giving class progression depending on which you chose to play, and even throwing magic into the pot as well. It all came together super well, and made for a fresh take on the genre, which only adds salt to the wound that is this shut down.

There’s not really any one reason that the game is ending either, as it had a decent player base and some really big media influencers that hyped it up on Twitch and the like. However, some fans have guessed that the game couldn’t maintain a steady player count given that it never saw an official port to consoles or PC, minimising the availability for a battle royale that already had to contend with a stacked genre.

Regardless of the reason, we’re all sad to see it go. I personally played this one a good bit and can safely say that it was a super fun and unique take on the battle royale formula, which isn’t even to mention that it was set within one of the most legendary JRPG worlds of all time.

So, here’s to you Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier. It’s a darn shame to see you go.

In need of a new BR game to try out after losing The First Soldier? Check out our Top 8 best battle royale games for iOS!