Sword Art Online Variant Showdown Smartphone Game Ends Service, Announces Offline Edition

Offline Edition launches after end of service on October 30

Bandai Namco Entertainment announced on Friday the Sword Art Online Variant Showdown smartphone game will end service globally on October 30 at 1:00 p.m. JST (12:00 a.m. EDT). The company will release an Offline Edition of the game at the same time, preserving part of players' data and some features.

The company ended sales of the premium in-app currency on August 29. Bandai Namco also announced a finale campaign with limited-time events and Scouts.

The game credits of the Offline Edition will include the names of all level 2 and above players who logged into the game before August 29. Players will also receive items to use in the Sword Art Online: Integral Factor game app.

The following features will be unavailable in the Offline Edition:

• The Tutorial

• Login Bonuses

• The Shop

• Purchasing Variant Crystals

• Enhancement of characters, ability cards, and armor

• Missions

• Daily Quests

• Multi Quests

• Expeditions

• The Labyrinth

The Offline Edition will feature main quests, the Unlimited Dungeon, Takedown Battles, Battle Royal, character interactions, Scouts, and stories such as the main story, side stories, and extra stories.

Players will have until January 29 to migrate account data to the Offline Edition.

The game launched in November 2022, but went down for maintenance in September 2023 due to major bugs in the game. The company re-released the game last December.

Bandai Namco Entertainment describes the game's story:

Cross Edge. A game supposedly designed by a middle school genius. It's a title Kirito has heard before. One day, two rumors about the game come to his attention. The first: There's a mysterious player who attacks out of nowhere. Losing to them means losing a portion of your own memories. The second: This player goes around wearing a hood pulled low to hide their eyes… Kirito can't help but recall Laughing Coffin, the player-killer guild he faced in SAO. In part to investigate these rumors, Kirito and his friends begin playing Cross Edge, and are soon targeted in a surprise attack.

The game celebrates the 10th anniversary of the anime franchise.

Source: Sword Art Online Variant Showdown's official website via Siliconera