China is losing 新月同行 in 2026 – and the shutdown plan says a lot

Another live-service world just got an official expiration date. Firewick Network has confirmed that the Chinese version of 新月同行 will shut down on June 9, 2026 – and once the servers go dark, players in that region simply won’t be able to log in at all.

On its own, that’s one more shutdown in a genre built on churn. But combine it with the fact that the entire 新月同行 development project is already scheduled to halt at the end of 2025 while the Japanese version keeps operating, and you get a cleaner look than usual at how fragile regional live-service operations really are.

Key takeaways

• The Chinese version of 新月同行 will end service on June 9, 2026; access to the game will stop completely for that region.
• Development on the overall project is set to cease by December 15, 2025, and Chinese updates were already slated to end around that time.
• The Japanese version is continuing for now with planned updates and maintenance, creating a split future for the same title.
• No offline archive or migration path has been announced, so Chinese players need to plan around a hard cutoff of their data and purchases.

Another live-service world with a fixed death date

According to Firewick Network’s April 9 announcement, the Chinese service for 新月同行 will conclude on June 9, 2026. After that date, clients in the region will no longer be able to connect – this is not a “reduced functionality” situation; it’s a full shutdown.

This is the standard lifecycle for a lot of online titles now: launch, steady cadence of updates, then a long tapering-off period before a final shutdown date. Firewick had already signaled that taper months ago. In a December 2025 notice, the company outlined that the entire 新月同行 development project would be halted by December 15, 2025, and that the Chinese version’s content updates would stop around the same time.

What players are living through now is that familiar “sunset phase”: no new content, minimal maintenance, and a marked date on the calendar where everything disappears. From a business point of view, that’s the cleanest way to wind down a service. From a player’s point of view, it’s a reminder that all that character-building, grinding, and spending lives on someone else’s infrastructure.

We’ve seen this rhythm repeatedly over the last few years. The Elder Scrolls: Blades is shutting down on June 30 after being removed from stores and quietly coasting for a while. Link！Like！ラブライブ！蓮ノ空スクールアイドルクラブ is ending on June 30 as well, its developers openly citing operational costs that were “beyond imagination.” Once revenue and roadmap no longer justify the server bill, the clock starts ticking.

China shuts down, Japan marches on – for now

The unusual part with 新月同行 is the regional split. While the Chinese version now has a hard stop in mid-2026, there has been no equivalent shutdown announcement for the Japanese release. Official communications specify that the Japanese version will continue to follow its existing update and maintenance schedule.

That puts the game in an odd position:

• The development project as a whole is scheduled to halt in December 2025.
• The Chinese version will stop taking new content around that point and go offline six months later.
• The Japanese version is, at least on paper, still on a normal live-service track.

On one level, this is just how regional publishing deals work. Different markets have different regulators, revenue curves, and audience retention. If the Chinese operation isn’t justifying its costs, it gets shut down first.

On another level, it underlines a reality players don’t love hearing: even when you’re playing “the same game,” your experience is at the mercy of a specific regional operator. China’s version can die while Japan’s continues. Content updates can diverge. Policies about refunds, premium currency, or data export can be totally different.

If you’re a Chinese player hoping to jump to the Japanese version after June 9, there are no signs of any official migration path. No shared account system, no cross-region transfer of purchases or progression has been announced. That’s normal in this industry – but it still means that, structurally, your account is siloed by region, and that silo is about to be demolished.

What this shutdown says about live-service fragility

The uncomfortable part of the Firewick announcement isn’t the shutdown itself; it’s what isn’t in it. There’s no mention of an offline client, no plan to preserve story content, and no talk of making character data viewable after the servers close. When the switch flips, the world of 新月同行 simply stops existing for Chinese players.

That stands in contrast to how a few other developers are handling their exits. Aquaplus, for example, is sunsetting its mobile title Utawarerumono: Lost Frag, but has already announced Story Archives, an offline package to preserve the game’s narrative (and potentially expand it). You lose the gacha, but you keep the actual story and characters in some form.

Bethesda, with Blades, chose another model: the game has been pulled from digital stores, but existing players can log in until the June shutdown, with most previously paid content unlocked toward the end to soften the blow. Again, nothing is permanent, but there’s at least a structured wind-down that gives players more to do with the time they have left.

新月同行’s Chinese version is following the older, harsher playbook: a firm date, a confirmation that access will be impossible afterward, and otherwise a largely standard sunsetting notice. No archival effort. No offline pivot. Just a countdown.

For players, the pattern is clear:

• As soon as a live-service title stops receiving meaningful updates, you should assume it is in a pre-shutdown phase, even if no date has been given.
• Your data and purchases are bound to that specific live server, in that specific region; portability is the exception, not the rule.
• The only content you can trust to outlive the servers is what you personally archive – screenshots, captures, and any exported text or art the ToS allows.

What Chinese players should actually do before June 9

With a fixed shutdown date and no offline path announced, Chinese players are working against a hard deadline. The practical steps are boring but important.

1. Read the official shutdown notice closely. Firewick’s announcement will usually spell out three critical things: when any in-game currency sales stop, how long support will handle billing inquiries, and whether there is any compensation or refund route for unused premium currency or items. These details differ game by game and region by region; don’t assume they match what other titles have done.

2. Plan your remaining premium currency usage. Once sales of paid currency are suspended (if they haven’t been already), you’re on a one-way path toward zero. The company may or may not offer refunds on unspent balances. The safest assumption is that any currency still on your account on June 9 will vanish with the servers, so align your spending with whatever you still want to see or do in the game.

3. Archive what matters to you. Because no export function or offline mode has been mentioned, the only persistent record of your account will be what you manually save. That can mean:

• Full-screen captures of character builds, gear, or lineups.
• Story scenes or combat footage recorded via your device or platform tools, respecting any in-game or legal restrictions.
• Text logs or images of limited-time events and collaboration content that may never reappear elsewhere.

4. Untangle linked accounts where possible. Many online titles in China are tied into wider ecosystem accounts or third-party login options. Check if 新月同行 shares credentials or permissions with other services, and remove any linkages you no longer need once the game shuts down. It won’t bring the game back, but it tightens up your digital footprint.

5. Be realistic about switching regions. Technically, nothing stops an interested player from looking at the ongoing Japanese version, but there are practical and legal frictions: language barriers, possible IP-region checks, different terms of service, and zero continuity of progression or purchases. Treat it as a separate game, not a continuation of your Chinese account.

The quiet question: what does this mean for the Japanese version?

Officially, the Japanese release of 新月同行 is “continuing as planned.” Updates and maintenance are proceeding on schedule, and there’s been no mention of a shutdown window.

The complicating factor is that development for the overall project is set to stop by December 15, 2025. Once a project’s core dev pipeline is dismantled, any regional version that continues beyond that point is effectively running on maintenance mode: balance tweaks, bug fixes, maybe small events, but little in the way of large-scale new content.

If you’re on the Japanese servers, the Chinese shutdown is a warning sign, not an immediate death sentence. The most likely trajectory looks like this:

• A year or so of reduced or more conservative updates once active development ends.
• Gradual decline in new-player acquisition and monetization as the content pipeline slows.
• At some point, a familiar announcement format giving a shutdown date, similar to what Chinese players just received.

That doesn’t mean the Japanese version is doomed tomorrow, but it does mean it’s hard to see it as a long-term, indefinitely growing platform once core development stops. The Chinese closure simply makes that horizon easier to see.

What to watch next

The next meaningful signals around 新月同行 won’t come from China; that shutdown is now locked. Instead, keep an eye on three things:

• Any follow-up Chinese notices about refunds, compensation campaigns, or slight extensions of the shutdown window. Those are rare but not unheard of.
• Japanese update cadence after December 15, 2025. If patch notes shrink or major features disappear from the roadmap, that’s the project’s end-of-life curve starting.
• Whether Firewick or its partners announce any kind of offline archive – even a basic story viewer – following industry examples like Lost Frag Story Archives. The absence of such a plan will become more glaring over time.

For players, the practical takeaway is simple: treat every live-service game as temporary, especially when a region-specific operator is involved. Once a shutdown window is public, the goal is no longer to maximize long-term builds or collections; it’s to decide how you want to spend the remaining time and money before the lights go out.

TL;DR

The Chinese version of 新月同行 will end service on June 9, 2026, following an earlier decision to halt development on the overall project and stop Chinese updates in December 2025. The Japanese version continues for now, but without ongoing development past 2025 its long-term future is inherently limited. If you’re playing in China, assume that your account, data, and remaining currency all effectively expire on June 9 and plan your final months in the game accordingly.