Following Final Fantasy: Resonance and Octopath Traveler 0, Another Eden: Origins has become another new JRPG title adapted from a mobile game into a premium, permanently preserved release. Producer Shinnosuke Hirasawa expressed that seeing these titles escape the fate of service-based games being shut down is truly “wonderful.”
Hirasawa led the overall overhaul of Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space. In an interview with gaming media outlet Automaton, he stated that he was not surprised to see other developers making the same choice.
“Service-based games have an inherent flaw: once operations cease, the game becomes completely unplayable,” Hirasawa explained. “Additionally, it’s common for development scale to gradually shrink after a game has been in long-term operation for many years.”
Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent and Final Fantasy Brave Exvius both adopted nearly identical transformation paths: stripping away service-based game mechanics, adding more story content, and launching full-price premium games that would also appeal to non-mobile players.
When asked about his views on titles like Octopath Traveler 0 and Final Fantasy: Resonance, Hirasawa responded, “The more, the better!”
“I believe creators take pride in the works they build. It’s wonderful to see service-based games survive in new forms and continue to gain player recognition,” he added. “This also has positive implications for the medium of gaming itself, so I hope to see more titles like this released in the future.”
Even the best mobile games, gacha titles, and online games ultimately cannot escape the fate of server shutdowns. Even industry giants like Genshin Impact face the same issue: what happens to the game years later—or even decades later, if developer miHoYo can keep it running that long—when development ends? Will an offline version be released?
Another Eden: Origins is now available on Steam and Nintendo Switch (including Switch 2), priced at $40. Player reviews on Steam are generally positive.
Currently, discussions around digital rights and game preservation are gaining momentum: Sony plans to stop releasing physical games, and the “Stop Killing Games” organization, which focuses on addressing server shutdown issues for multiplayer games, has taken its demands to court. These preserved games have entered the public spotlight at just the right time.