Sword Art Online Variant Showdown Shutting Down 

Sword Art Online Variant Showdown, a mobile game based on the series,will be closing down for good on October 30, 2025. Bandai Namco said it will stop selling in-game currency on August 29, 2025. However, it will release an Offline Edition on October 30, 2025. There is also a final roadmap available to help alert us about what to expect.

This has always been one of the more troubled Sword Art Online games. While the action title first launched in November 2022, it ended up being pulled in September 2023. It then didn’t return from that extended maintenance period until December 2024. When discussing this shutdown, the company said it decided “it would be difficult to continue providing a satisfying player experience.” 

Bandai Namco also went over the different events we can expect. Starting today, there’s a Gem Alchemist: LLENN Event Scout, a Festival Scout with double SSR drop rate, and a Take Back the Stream event. As September starts, episodes 10-13 of Part 2 will appear. As the month goes on, we’ll see episodes 1-8 of Part 4, another event, and another scout banner. The first half of October 2025 will bring the rest of Part 4 and its final episode, a finale event, and an October event scout. Then in the second half, there will be a last Ultimate Battle event.

Here’s the photo of the full roadmap. It also points out that the 3.0.0 version of the game will turn it to the Offline Edition and allow you to transfer data. That version will feature the Main Quest, Story, Subjugation Battle, Unlimited Dungeon, and Battle Royal modes. The Scout that appears in Offline Edition won’t let you get characters and cards, apparently, but you can see them.

Sword Art Online Variant Showdown is available on mobile devices until October 30, 2025, at which point the current release will shut down and Offline Edition will launch.