Babylon's Fall shuts down less than a year after launch, unplayable for all purchasers
Square Enix released the always-online action game Babylon's Fall in March 2022 and ended its service on February 27, 2023 — under a year later. The $60 game became entirely unplayable for everyone who bought it.
- Date
- February 27, 2023
- Platform
- Steam
- Refunds offered
- No
- Offline copy provided
- No
What happened
Babylon's Fall, a $60 always-online action game by PlatinumGames and Square Enix, launched on March 3, 2022. Square Enix announced in September 2022 that service would end, and servers shut down on February 27, 2023 — just under twelve months after launch. With no offline mode, the game became permanently unplayable for all purchasers on PlayStation and PC.
Sales of the game and its premium currency were halted after the announcement, and Square Enix set up a refund process for unused premium currency (Garaz).
Consumer impact
- Purchasers of the base game received no refund for the game itself.
- The product lifespan from full-price launch to total revocation was 361 days.
Why it matters
Alongside Concord, this case defines the short end of the purchase-to-revocation spectrum at a major publisher — and unlike Concord, the game's purchase price was not refunded. The pair makes a clean comparison of remedy practices for the same failure mode.