Hellooooooo, I can actually explain why Square may have gone in this direction!
First of all, one reason is how popular mobile games are in Japan. Theyโre quick and easy to do, especially when youโre on the go and are commuting. Theyโre more popular there than they are here in the West and pretty much fit the lifestyle over in Japan
Secondly, itโs also a gacha game, and gacha games have been getting more and more popular in recent years. In short, Square will do anything to keep players hooked on Ever Crisis for as long as possibleโadding more in-app purchases, limited edition clothes and items, etc etc.
Gacha games essentially employ psychological tactics on players, such as fomo for example, to keep them engaged for as long as possible. When they use fomo, players feel as if they have to long on everyday, accept their login rewards, etc. And that can also be a hard cycle to break
Knowing how Square is with FFVII, and seeing how popular (and iconic) FFVII is, itโs no surprise Square went in this direction and will probably continue to drag out Ever Crisis for as long as possible
As for Sephirothโs backstory, it shouldโve been a console game in the first place. If they can do Crisis Core for Zack and Dirge for Vincent, they definitely couldโve done it for Sephiroth. However, with the explanations above, you can see why Square may have gone that route with First Solider
That being said, there are mobile games that have become console games before. Sephirothโs backstory does have potential to be remade into a console game. And itโs something Nomura briefly mentioned not too long ago
(Screenshot from @rosy-crow)
Itโs an idea that has been brought up by Nomura himself, so itโs not entirely out of the question. Especially with Revelation coming out next spring and Remake trilogy coming to an end, itโs possibly something we can see years down the line
Turning it into a console game also gives them opportunities to expand on any limitations they may have had with it being a mobile game, add things they didnโt to Minirothโs story, such as Genesis, who is a big part of his life but was excluded (whatever is happening with Gackt and Square can it pls be fixed the people YEARN for Genesis, itโs been almost 20 years without new Genesis content)
As I said before, if they can do it with Zack and Vincent, they easily couldโve done it for Sephiroth. But alas, money talks unfortunately โน๏ธ