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Final Fantasy iOS Game Shuts Down Due to Curious In-App Purchase Bug

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Square Enix today announced that iOS game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is shutting down immediately, due to some kind of in-app purchase bug.

final-fantasy-crystal-chronicles.jpg

Apparently customers have been unable to access content purchased in the iOS app for the last several weeks, which Square Enix says is "due to changes made to the in-app purchases model." Apple hasn't made any known changes to in-app purchases in recent months, so it is not clear what Square Enix is referencing given the limited information provided.

Further, the company says that it is "unable to completely fix the bug and implement the new changes," which means support for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the iPhone and iPad is ending.

The game has been removed from the App Store, and customers who made an in-app purchase in January 2024 or later can request a refund by contacting Square Enix support.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles offered online multiplayer and cross-platform play, allowing gamers to team up to conquer dungeons and earn loot. The remastered version of the game continues to be available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Android.

Update 8:28 pm: As noted by forum member An_mo_, Apple made a change to the security requirements for App Store receipts that went into effect the day before Square Enix reported receiving complaints, so it appears that may be related to the issue users were experiencing. If so, it still remains unclear why Square Enix was unable to update the app to support the new certificates.

Article Link: Final Fantasy iOS Game Shuts Down Due to Curious In-App Purchase Bug
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/13/final-fantasy-in-app-purchase-shutdown/
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  • Haha
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I just want to say, this MacRumors website has pleasantly surprised me. This website could have mentioned any other video game, from Pokémon to Mario to Sonic to Halo or to any other Final Fantasy. Instead, it mentioned Crystal Chronicles, a hidden gem!

Stay classy, MacRumors! :cool:
 
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My guess is that they probably don't want to spend the money on contractors to fix it. I imagine it's not making a lot of money and properly fixing it might entail significant architectural changes.
 
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customers who made an in-app purchase in January 2024 or later can request a refund by contacting Square Enix support.
Click to expand...

Good that they are offering refunds[1], at least. When Supercell closed down "Clash Mini" last year, both they and Apple refused to do refunds for my in-app purchases. I lost quite a bit of $, some of which were only from a few months earlier.

They did offer to transfer purchases to other Supercell games, but since I don't really play any other Supercell games that offer was useless to me. Very ****** behaviour from Supercell and it's put me off ever playing their games again.

[1] (But ideally, refunds should be automatic in these situations. When Stadia was shut down, Google refunded everything you'd ever purchased automatically.)
 
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Reason077 said:
Good that they are offering refunds[1], at least. When Supercell closed down "Clash Mini" last year, both they and Apple refused to do refunds for my in-app purchases. I lost quite a bit of $, some of which were only from a few months earlier.

They did offer to transfer purchases to other Supercell games, but since I don't really play any other Supercell games that offer was useless to me. Very ****** behaviour from Supercell and it's put me off ever playing their games again.

[1] (But ideally, refunds should be automatic in these situations. When Stadia was shut down, Google refunded everything you'd ever purchased automatically.)
Click to expand...

Disagree about refunds for features/services already "consumed". Not "ideal". You received value for the purchase.
 
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coolfactor said:
Disagree about refunds for features/services already "consumed". Not "ideal". You received value for the purchase.
Click to expand...

Not the value that was promised. It's an in-app purchase, not an in-app rental.

Imagine if you "purchased" an eBook on Amazon or a movie on Apple TV+, then it was disabled just a few months later so you could no longer view it. Wouldn't you expect a refund?

When Google shut down the Stadia gaming service, they automatically refunded every game and every in-app item that was ever purchased. Even if it was from years earlier!
 
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Apple has made changes to IAP verification recently

developer.apple.com

Reminder: Upcoming Changes to the App Store Receipt Signing Intermediate Certificate - Latest News - Apple Developer

As part of ongoing efforts to improve security and privacy on Apple platforms, the App Store receipt signing intermediate certificate is being updated to use the SHA-256 cryptographic algorithm. This certificate is used to sign App Store receipts, which are the proof of purchase for apps and...
developer.apple.com developer.apple.com

This can affect titles which don't support the latest verification method.
 
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Reason077 said:
Good that they are offering refunds[1], at least. When Supercell closed down "Clash Mini" last year, both they and Apple refused to do refunds for my in-app purchases. I lost quite a bit of $, some of which were only from a few months earlier.

They did offer to transfer purchases to other Supercell games, but since I don't really play any other Supercell games that offer was useless to me. Very ****** behaviour from Supercell and it's put me off ever playing their games again.

[1] (But ideally, refunds should be automatic in these situations. When Stadia was shut down, Google refunded everything you'd ever purchased automatically.)
Click to expand...
Don’t spend lots of money on an a game.

Lesson learned.
 
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I have actually encountered the similar In-app purchase bug on some other productivity Apps, which is really frustrating as we really need to use the app for our business. We attempt to made 3 purchases successfully but nothing redeemed to our accounts. At the end of the day only 2 got refunded and the company manually add the digital purchase back to our account after 2 weeks or something.

However, it is already toooooo late. We have already moved on to other products.

Sad for the business who got ****ed over. Still I am not convinced to make any further in-app purchase as of now.

Finally today this article tell me it is likely not the product's fault but Apple ... Still, it is just sad for them. The House Always Wins.
 
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