Square Enix Shuts Down Another Mobile Game
Just a few months after shutting down Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, Square Enix has shut down another of its mobile games. This time around, it's Echoes of Mana, a mobile entry in the popular Mana franchise. Square Enix announced the closure back in February, and the game's services officially came to an end on Monday, May 15th. While some players might have hoped it would still be playable offline, it seems that Echoes of Mana is now rendered completely inaccessible. As such, players are left only with the memories of the game, and little else to show for it.
Square Enix's Tweet announcing the game's end can be found below.
Echoes of Mana app service ended on May 15, 2023.
— ECHOES of MANA (@EchoesOfManaEN) May 15, 2023
We thank all our players who joined us on the #EchoesOfMana adventure. Our journey ends, but your echo lives on!
For more details, please see the official site.https://t.co/wt7zHj4fQA#ManaSeries @ManaGame pic.twitter.com/gGVD6aaJFx
While there's a lot of disappointment surrounding the game's conclusion, many fans expressed happiness with the way Echoes of Mana came to an end. The game's storyline was given a satisfying conclusion, which is more than a lot of other mobile games get to say! Sadly, Echoes of Mana only got to stick around for a little more than a year, which is a pretty short amount of time. For now, players are just going to have to settle for other existing games in the Mana series such as Secret of Mana or Trials of Mana. At least that will tide Mana fans over until Square Enix reveals what's planned next for the series!
Unfortunately, this sort of thing is a little too common in the video game industry. Fans invest time and money into these types of games, only for publishers to shut them down when they aren't making enough money, leaving them completely inaccessible to new fans. This results in some players hesitating to embrace new mobile games (particularly those from Square Enix), which then struggle to find an audience, and end up shutting down early. It's an unfortunate cycle, and it also ends up resulting in more cases of video game media being lost.
Are you disappointed that Echoes of Mana was shut down? Do situations like these make you more hesitant to embrace mobile gaming? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!