Square Enix has announced that content support for its kart racing game Chocobo GP is officially ending with the game's next season. Chocobo GP was officially launched on Nintendo Switch in March earlier this year. Despite being a premium game, Chocobo GP was heavily criticized for being monetized like a mobile game. It seems the criticism has proven to be Chocobo GP's downfall, as Square Enix will no longer support the game, though it will remain online for the foreseeable future.Chocobo GP players have been looking forward to the start of Season 5 since its announcement on December 12. Square Enix confirmed that Season 5 would be arriving on December 22 and would include two new characters, Volg the chocobo and Croma the black mage, and the Final Fantasy 7-themed course Midgar. A variety of cute Christmas-themed costumes are also planned, like the reindeer outfit for moogle Atla. Unfortunately, further content will not be developed.The announcement that support for Chocobo GP would be ending was shared by Square Enix on social media. Square Enix thanked Chocobo GP fans for playing and asked them to continue enjoying the game. However, it confirmed that there will be no further "large-scale updates" for Chocobo GP following its Season 5 update on December 21. No explanation for the decision was provided, leaving fans to assume what they may.
What Square Enix did provide further details on is how Chocobo GP will continue following the end of official support. Season 5 will continue as planned as the last season where prize pass levels are used. Once season 5 concludes, rankings will persist much like they are now between seasons.
Mythril is perhaps the most important aspect of the game that needs to be addressed. Mythril is Chocobo GP's premium currency. All Mythril will become useless starting January 6, 2023. That means that players with Mythril need to spend it over the next two weeks. That includes non-paid-for Mythril, too. Square Enix says it plans to bring back some "exclusive" content from Season 1 for the Mythril shop, so watch out for that.
Obviously, this is a very disappointing situation for Chocobo GP players. Purchasing the game came with the implication that Square Enix would continue to support the arcade racing game with content for some time. Yet less than a year later and content updates are ending. It would be fair for players to be angry about the situation. Unfortunately, that's the nature of live-service games that don't meet publishers' standards of success anymore, though – and Chocobo GP has issues. At least Chocobo GP will remain playable and with key functionality, at least for now.
Chocobo GP is available now on Switch.
