The upcoming season of Square Enix’s 4v4 online party shooter Foamstars will be its last, the publisher announced Thursday. The Splatoon-inspired action game will be updated with a new season on December 13th. Square Enix said the upcoming season, titled “The Party Continues,” will run until January 17, 2025, and then mark the end of the game’s seasonal updates. However, the studio confirmed that Foamstars will remain online and available to players.
Foamstars will have its final season
In a season update announcement posted on its website on Thursday, Square Enix thanked Foamstars players and confirmed that the game’s season updates will cease next month. “Following the ‘PARTY GOES ON!’ season, which ran from Friday, December 13, 2024, to Friday, January 17, 2025, the season update for FOAMSTARS is coming to an end,” the company said.
While Foamstars will stop receiving season updates, the game will still remain online for players. “All online services will remain available after the PARTY GOES ON! season ends. Additionally, we plan to host FOAMSTARS CUP, a series of in-game events named after each character,” Square Enix said.
Foamstars’ previous season passes will also be available again, the publisher confirmed. “Players can switch season passes at any time and progress along the season pass track of their choice to obtain items from past seasons. This will allow players to obtain all items from each season.” Square Enix said.
The upcoming final season update will bring gameplay enhancements, such as the ability to customize each character’s camera. The update will also add new enhancements such as Prism Gems. Square Enix says the final season will bring improvements designed to ensure the game remains enjoyable for the foreseeable future.
Square Enix launched Foamstars as a PlayStation exclusive in February, making the game available on PS4 and PS5 as a PlayStation Plus launch title. The company promises free themed seasonal updates for a year, including cosmetics, playable characters, maps and other modes.
Field Service Dilemma
However, Square Enix said in its quarterly earnings report in May that the live-streaming service game failed to meet its sales targets. The publisher’s recent PlayStation exclusives, including Final Fantasy VII Reborn, Final Fantasy XVI and Foamstars, have failed to meet revenue and profit expectations, forcing it to revise its 2024 forecasts and shift to a multi-platform publishing strategy.
Square Enix’s decision to halt Foamstars updates marks another setback for live gaming in 2024. Concord, Sony’s big-budget live-streaming hero shooter, dropped two weeks after launching in August, struggling to attract players on PS5 and PC. PlayStation parent company later shut down Concord developer Firewalk Studios and permanently discontinued the game.
Earlier this week, Ubisoft announced that it would discontinue its free live streaming service shooter “XDefiant” and shut down the game’s servers in June 2025. The publisher also confirmed it will close its San Francisco and Osaka studios and scale back its Sydney production base, with 277 jobs affected.
