The game behind the “forgotten loot-shooter” headline is BABYLON’S FALL, a co-op action RPG developed by PlatinumGames and produced and published by Square Enix. Its documented design paired four-weapon combat with loot-based gear builds and short, party-based quests. But “years ahead of its time” is an argument, not an established fact: the available evidence shows what the game offered, not that it influenced later games or was misunderstood at launch.
What was BABYLON’S FALL?
BABYLON’S FALL was officially described as an action RPG, not a loot-shooter. PlatinumGames announced it at Square Enix’s E3 showcase in 2018. It launched on PS5 and PS4 on March 3, 2022, and on Steam on March 4, 2022. The game cast players as Sentinels bound to a Gideon Coffin, fighting through the Tower of Babylon.
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Its presentation included a “Brushwork Filter” designed to evoke medieval oil painting. That was the developers’ stated artistic aim; it is not an independent assessment of how well the effect worked.
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Four weapons, with melee and ranged options
Players could equip two weapons in their hands and two more through the Gideon Arms, for up to four weapons available in combat. PlatinumGames described Standard, Power, and Technical attack modes, with weapon classes including swords, bows, rods, hammers, and shields. That setup made switching among different tools central to the combat concept, rather than limiting the player to a single weapon style.
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Loot that changed loadouts
Quests rewarded weapons and armor, and players could experiment with different combinations to shape a build. This is the clearest reason to call the game loot-driven: gear was not just a reward tally, but a way to alter how a character was equipped.
Mission-based co-op
The multiplayer structure centered on the Sentinel Force HQ hub and quests. The developer described a hub that could matchmake up to 16 players, while quest parties could include up to four. Square Enix’s 2021 annual report also emphasized parties of up to four. The hub’s larger player capacity should not be mistaken for a 16-player quest party.
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Was it really years ahead of its time?
There is a defensible case that BABYLON’S FALL brought together a distinctive set of ideas: multiple simultaneously available weapons, a mix of melee and ranged tools, gear-based build experimentation, and short online co-op quests. Those are concrete design features worth revisiting.
They do not, by themselves, prove that the game was ahead of its time. Establishing that claim would require fair comparisons with later games: how many weapons they let players use at once, how gear shaped builds, how co-op was structured, and how their mission and ongoing-content models worked. The sources documenting BABYLON’S FALL do not establish those comparisons, historical priority, or influence. Nor do they establish why the game did not find lasting success, so a confident explanation of its reception would go beyond the evidence.
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Why the service ended—and whether it can be played now
On September 13, 2022, Square Enix announced that it was cancelling planned large-scale updates and ending the game’s service. The publisher scheduled the shutdown for February 27, 2023, at 11:00 p.m. Pacific, and said gameplay data on its servers would be deleted. It also said the game would no longer be playable after service ended. PlatinumGames records the server closure as February 28, 2023; PlayStation shows the shutdown in multiple time zones. These dates refer to the same event, not different shutdowns.
The development and operations teams wrote in the September 13 notice: “Despite all of your support, we are truly sad and sorry to say that we will be unable to continue with the game’s service.”
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Today, the practical answer is that BABYLON’S FALL cannot be played: the required online service has ended. A physical PS5 edition is a historical collector item, not a workaround. Square Enix said physical retail sales would end as part of the shutdown, and PlayStation records their cessation; a disc does not restore the closed servers. Present-day secondhand availability, condition, and prices are not established here.
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What the record can—and cannot—tell us
Before release, PlatinumGames and Square Enix described regular post-launch updates as part of the plan. That plan did not continue as proposed: in September 2022 Square Enix cancelled the planned large-scale updates while announcing the service end. The documented sequence matters more than treating the original roadmap as a promise fulfilled.
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The official materials establish the game’s systems, release platforms, and shutdown, but they do not provide a suitable commercial-performance statistic or explain the reasons for the outcome. That leaves room to discuss the design as an intriguing combination, but not to declare that later games copied it or that launch reception simply failed to recognize its merits.
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