Square Enix is launching the first brand new game project related to Final Fantasy VII since the release of FF7R, a multiplayer battle royale titled The First Soldier, here is when the game releases and how to preinstall.

Free-to-play multiplayer games and especially shooters, battle royales, and asymmetrical co-op games are incredibly popular in Japan. Many Japanese games fans outside Japan tend to forget that the majority of Japanese games are niche in Japan as well. Japanese players are all about Apex Legends, Dead by Daylight, Identity V, Among Us, or Minecraft.

Obviously, Square Enix decided to try its chance at the battle royale genre as well. By reutilizing assets from Final Fantasy VII Remake as we wait for Part 2. And thus The First Soldier was born, both at Shinra's labs and at Square Enix HQ in Shinjuku.

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Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier, when will servers be live, release time

The Japanese Twitter account for Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier revealed the servers will be launching at 3 AM EST / midnight PST. Click here for a countdown.

Keep in mind this is a big launch, so it's very likely servers will get congested and you won't be able to play right away. As of now though, looking at the game's reception so far, The First Solider has a much better chance of making it big in Japan and Asia compared to the rest of the world. Most Final Fantasy fans in Europe and the US are still biased against mobile games as well.

How to preinstall FF7FS

Grab your phone or your Android emulator and go to the Google Play page or the App Store page of Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier, and click download the game.

I'll be trying out FF7FS myself and try to see what's the game's worth. I just hope servers won't be region-locked so I can easily play with Japanese players.

FF7FS Server login issues (update)

As expected, The First Soldier was just launched, and several players can't go past the Tutorial, the servers are unstable due to the huge amount of players who try to login. The problem should hopefully be fixed in a few hours. Update: An emergency maintenance has been announced to solve the issue.