Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis will end service on October 7, 2026. The free-to-play mobile RPG, which launched on September 7, 2023, will wrap up after just over three years of operation. It's the second FF7 mobile title to close, following The First Soldier which shut down in early 2023 after barely a year of service. If you've been playing since launch, here's what the FF7 Ever Crisis shutdown means for your account, your Red Crystals, and the content still coming before the lights go out.
Ever Crisis lasted three times longer than The First Soldier. But does that make losing three years of progress any easier?
Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis End of Service Timeline
The shutdown follows a clear schedule. Red Crystal sales stopped on July 7 (Pacific), and Steam new installations were blocked the same day the announcement went live on July 8. Here's the full Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis end of service timeline:
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Red Crystal sales end | July 7, 2026 (PDT) |
| Steam new installs blocked | July 8, 2026 |
| Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis closing date | October 7, 2026, 15:00 (Beijing time) / October 6, 23:00 (PDT) |
| Account data deletion | After all shutdown procedures complete |
You can keep using any Red Crystals you already own until the servers go offline. In-game events and content updates will continue running right up to shutdown day, so the game won't go dormant in the home stretch.
Why Square Enix Is Shutting Down FF7 Ever Crisis
Producer Shoichi Ichikawa wrote a candid open letter explaining the decision. The short version: the numbers didn't add up anymore.
The production demands of creating new weapons and costumes for every character, at the visual quality the FF7 brand demands, became unsustainable against the game's revenue. Ichikawa mentioned that balancing "production hours and costs" with the constant need for new character gear is what ultimately tipped the scales, while the team also struggled with roster diversity issues as certain compositions kept dominating and rebalancing weapons across a growing cast proved harder than expected.
Square Enix concluded they could no longer maintain service quality befitting the Final Fantasy VII name. It's a familiar story for gacha titles. The production costs of high-quality character assets climb faster than revenue in year two and three, and Ever Crisis hit that wall at roughly the same age as many of its peers.
This is part of a broader Square Enix shutdown pattern in 2026. The company has been pruning its mobile portfolio aggressively. Ever Crisis joins a list that already includes several titles, and Nintendo's Mario Kart Tour (ending September 29) lands just weeks before.
FF7 Ever Crisis Refund Policy: What Happens to Your Red Crystals
This is the part that's generated the most frustration. Only players in Taiwan are eligible for refunds on unused paid Red Crystals. If you're anywhere else, your remaining paid currency is yours to spend before October 7, and that's it. After shutdown, there's no recovery.
Square Enix hasn't released the refund application process yet. Details will come later through in-game notices and the official website. If you're in Taiwan and plan to apply, don't delete the app, switch devices, or reinstall before your refund goes through. The verification process needs your account data intact.
All account information gets deleted after shutdown. That's standard for mobile game closures. Your character data, weapon inventory, story progress, everything. Once it's gone, it's gone.
Before Crisis Finally Arrives, Just in Time to Say Goodbye
There's a bitter irony in the shutdown timeline. Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis closing happens right as the game finally delivers on one of its biggest promises: the Before Crisis story chapters.
Before Crisis was a Japan-only mobile game from 2004 that never got an official English release. Ever Crisis was supposed to be its first English-language debut. The remake's first chapter dropped on the same day the shutdown was announced, with chapters two and three scheduled for August and September. Players who've waited two decades to experience this story in English are getting it in three monthly installments, then the game shuts down.
The main FF7 story will also reach its conclusion. Chapter 9, covering the Lifestream sequence from the original game, is planned for September 2026 to coincide with the game's third anniversary. New weapons, costumes, seasonal events, and weapon transcendence upgrades are all in the pipeline for the final months.
What FF7 Ever Crisis Got Right
For all the frustration around the shutdown, Ever Crisis did something genuinely valuable: it compiled the entire FF7 timeline into one accessible package, from the original FF7 and Crisis Core to The First Soldier, Advent Children, and Dirge of Cerberus, all playable on mobile with a surprisingly flexible battle system.
The chibi-style overworld models mixed with full-quality battle renders wasn't for everyone, but it let the game cover decades of FF7 lore at a scale a full remake never could, with Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Zack, young Sephiroth, and deep-cut characters like Glenn and Lucia from The First Soldier all getting meaningful screen time. The production quality on seasonal events and crossover costumes was genuinely high for a mobile title. The Nier crossover outfits and the absurdly detailed "Ever Crisis Academy" school event showed a team that cared about what it was making.
The combat system rewarded team building and timing in ways that felt more like a proper RPG than a typical mobile auto-battler. You had to pay attention to enemy patterns, swap stances, and chain abilities. That's rare in the gacha space.
What Players Should Do Before the Ever Crisis Shutdown
If you've got time invested in Ever Crisis, here's what matters:
Spend your Red Crystals. Don't sit on them hoping for a last-minute banner. Use everything before October 7, because there's no value in holding onto currency that disappears.
Finish the story chapters you care about. Before Crisis and the FF7 main story conclusion are the obvious priorities, but Crisis Core and The First Soldier arcs are worth revisiting if you missed any.
Screenshot your account. Character rosters, favorite costumes, team comps. SE is deleting all data after shutdown. If you want mementos, grab them now.
If you're in Taiwan, keep your app installed and wait for the refund process details. Don't reinstall or switch devices.
Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis: The Bottom Line
Three years isn't nothing for a mobile gacha. Plenty of Square Enix mobile titles didn't make it past one. Ever Crisis survived through a global launch, a Steam port, multiple major crossover events, and a full run of FF7 story content. It wasn't a short-changed cash grab that got pulled after six months.
That doesn't make the shutdown less frustrating for players who invested time and money into characters and weapons that are about to vanish. The Taiwan-only refund policy is particularly hard to defend for a globally launched game. And losing Before Crisis again, right as it finally gets an English version, stings.
If you want to play Ever Crisis one last time, the game is available on APKPure. Download it before October 7 and finish what you started, or just take a walk through Midgar for old time's sake.