Square Enix is ending seasonal support for multiplayer battler Foamstars after less than a year.
The Japanese publisher explained the next seasonal update, rather ironically called the ‘Party Goes On!,’ will essentially serve as the title’s swan song.
The Party Goes On! will take place from December 13, 2024, to January 17, 2025. No more seasonal updates will launch after that period.
“In this concluding update, expansions will be introduced to enhance gameplay, such as the ability to customize shots of each character, and new enhancement elements, such as Prism Gems, all aimed at ensuring players can continue to enjoy the game for the foreseeable future,” wrote Square Enix in a notice to players.
“All online services will remain available after the “Party Goes On!” season ends. In addition, we plan to hold the Foamstars Cup, a series of in-game events named after each character.”
The company noted that previous season passes will be made available again to “ensure that new players can fully enjoy Foamstars.” Players will be able to flit between existing season passes to obtain items they might have missed. Although Foamstars will remain playable moving forward, it’s hard to read this as anything other than the title being mothballed by Square Enix.
“No new content” for Foamstars
In a separate blog post, Foamstars producer Kosuke Okatani reiterated there will be “no new content” coming down the pipeline and thanked players for their interest.
“I don’t want this to sound like a final message since you will be able to continue playing the game. However I wanted to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to you all once again,” he wrote. “Thanks to all of you, we’ve managed to successfully complete every update we had planned. We’ve been able to reach this point because of your warm support. On behalf of the entire team, I’d like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude.”
Okatani expressed hope that players will be able to access Foamstars for “years to come,” but it’s clear Square Enix has struggled to realize its vision for the project. Okatani said the development team faced “many challenges” throughout production, while the decision to turn Foamstars into a free-to-play product just eight months after it launched suggested the title has struggled to find an audience.