Square’s troubled Babylon’s Fall is officially being shut down

Square Enix’s troubled online brawler Babylon’s Fall will officially end service in February 2023 and will be pulled from sale later today, it has been announced.

In a statement on the game’s official website, Square confirmed that the game will shut down and that the “large-scale update,” that was planned for the game has been cancelled.

“With the desire of delivering an exhilarating online multiplayer action RPG set in an elaborate high fantasy world, we launched the game’s official service on Thursday, 3 March 2022, and have continued to undertake additional development and operations,” the statement read. “However, it is with deep regret to inform you that we will be terminating the game’s service on Tuesday, 28 February 2023.”

“Following the publication of this announcement, sales of the digital version, as well as the physical version on retailer sites, will draw to a close,” reads a message towards the end of the post. At the time of writing, the game is still available for purchase on PSN.

On Steam, the game’s official page has been updated with the following message: “BABYLON’S FALL will be ending service on February 28, 2023, 18:00 JST / 09:00 GMT / 01:00 PT.

“After that point, the game, along with any in-game currency and in-game purchased items, will no longer be accessible. Between now and when the service ends, as a way to show our gratitude to our players, we intend to run various in-game activities.”

The post on the game’s website also provided a timeline of events that will happen in the lead-up to the game going offline. Starting today, sales of the premium currency Garaz will be suspended.

On November 29, the second season of content will end, and sales of the Premium Battle Pass will also end. A “Final Season” will then begin, which will reward players with special items that they can use for the remaining months before the game shuts down entirely on 28 February 2023.

Babylon’s Fall was widely panned by critics when it launched in March. According to review aggregator Metacritic, the title is one of the worst reviewed games so far on PS5 and one of the worst games of the year.

At one point, the game boasted a single concurrent player on Steam. 

“In the future, Babylon’s Fall will almost certainly be frequently used as an example of how not to launch a live service game,” opened VGC’s review of the game.

“Not only does it fail at the most basic elements, such as a visual style that’s incredibly unappealing, or a mission structure that is somehow both dreadfully short and tedious, but the game also tries desperately to establish itself as a live game, filling your screen with as many opportunities to micro-transact as it can, despite the fact it actually costs $60 to purchase.”