Square Enix Shuts Down 2 Mobile Games Less Than a Year After Launch

John Lopez, Tech Times 29 December 2023, 09:12 am

Square Enix faces another setback as it announces the imminent shutdown of two of its mobile games, Engage Kill and Full Metal Alchemist Mobile (via GameRant).

The closure, scheduled for March 21 and March 29, 2024, underscores the company's struggle to sustain successful ventures in the fiercely competitive mobile gaming market.

Square Enix Axes 2 Mobile Game Titles

Both titles, integral parts of Project Engage, a multifaceted mixed-media property, were anticipated offerings from the renowned developer-publisher.

Engage Kill, released in early 2023, fell short of revenue targets consistently despite its ties to an anime series, Engage Kiss, and a manga adaptation.

It employed the popular gacha-style mechanics, allowing players to acquire items and characters through loot boxes, a hallmark of Japanese-made games.

However, the closure was not solely due to financial underperformance. Square Enix faced difficulties in maintaining the necessary teams to support these games.

According to the statement for Engage Kill's departure, it was determined that it would be difficult to continue providing a satisfactory service to players.

Shutting Down Full Metal Alchemist Mobile

Full Metal Alchemist Mobile launched slightly earlier than Engage Kill in August 2022, receiving positive feedback for representing the beloved manga's story.

Still, player feedback indicated dissatisfaction with the overall gaming experience, leading to the decision to cease operations. According to Square Enix, maintaining the team structure required to manage the game had become difficult.

The shutdowns mark a pattern in Square Enix's recent mobile game history. Earlier in 2023, Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier met a similar fate, demonstrating the company's struggles to translate its console and PC successes to the mobile gaming landscape.

Upcoming Projects

Fans and industry observers had anticipated the demise of Engage Kill, noting declining rankings on gaming stock tracking sites and perceiving competition from other anime projects as contributing factors.

Despite the closure, Square Enix's mobile gaming segment remains challenging, contrasting sharply with its triumphs in the console and PC realms.

Project Engage encompassed various media components, including the Engage Kiss anime produced by A-1 Pictures, which ran for a single season from July to September 2022.

The tie-ins between these multimedia elements aimed to create an immersive experience for fans, but the games' failure to resonate with players led to their untimely demise.

Moreover, Square Enix's decision to terminate Engage Kill before its first anniversary accentuates its critical analysis of its free-to-play mobile game portfolio.

Siliconera tells us that other closures, such as the discontinuation of Dragon Quest Tact's global English version and the complete shutdown of Full Metal Alchemist Mobile in Japan, reflect a strategic reevaluation of their mobile gaming initiatives.

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