Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius global edition shuts down operations on October 30

by Josh Tolentino on 30 August, 2024

Square Enix has announced that it will pull the plug on the global edition Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, its free-to-play mobile RPG, on October 30, 2024. The end of service for the game comes more than eight years after it first launched. The Japanese version will continue operating.

In the announcement, Square Enix and the Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius development team apologized to players for the bad news, and said that it was a "difficult decision" to shut the game down. It didn't specify why the game was being shut down, other than referencing that it would be "difficult to continue maintaining the app experience."

As of August 29, 2024, all of the in-game microtransactions have been suspended, including for resource bundles and the premium Lapis currency. Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius will continue operating as normal, with scheduled events kicking off until October 30, 2024, when the app will go offline and player accounts will be removed.

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius first launched in 2016, and featured an original story where heroes Rain and Lasswell struggle to save the world of Lapis, a mystical land full of crystals. A key power in Lapis is the ability to summon "Visions," manifestations of memories and emotions that can transcend time and space. In gameplay terms, Visions are characters that can be acquired via the in-game gacha system, including creatures, villains, and heroes from the Final Fantasy series, Square Enix games, and even the real world.

Brave Exvius hosted a number of crossover events, featuring titles ranging from NieR: Automata to Xenogears to then-Square Enix-owned Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Even real-life singers Katy Perry and Ariana Grande appeared as playable units in-game. Square Enix also launched a tactical spin-off, War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, which went llive in 2019 and will continue operating.

Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius is available on iOS and Android, but will shut down on October 30, 2024.