Final Fantasy VII fans in North America who might have been waiting to play the elusive free-to-play Final Fantasy VII G-Bike will now never get the chance. Square Enix has announced plans to shut it down this coming December after only a year of service.

Yes, in this day and age of games being lost forever if they are not successful enough, not even a popular title like Final Fantasy VII is safe from its merciless grasp. Square Enix confirmed the news on the game’s blog, translated by Gematsu.

“Although we were pushing forward with discussions until now, we’ve come to the conclusion that from here it will be difficult to provide a service that will satisfy our users, so today we have decided to end service.”

Final Fantasy VII G-Bike launched on Oct. 30, 2014, and it will shut down on Dec. 15. In-game purchases will cease on Oct. 13, and once again, poof… another video game has been ravaged by this venomous theory of “games as a service.” Live your lifespan, serve your purpose, then be thrown to the hounds once you’ve become worthless. This one didn’t even get a shot at the English speaking market.

Think how many wonderful hidden gems and cult-classics we would have lost if the gaming industry followed this model in the early 90s. I mean, the closest parallel could be old arcade games that have been forgotten about, but at least publishers and fans alike are finding ways to emulate them. Servers can’t be so easily emulated and restored.