DoorDash is holding this FF7 Rebirth item to ransom—and fans aren’t happy

From March 7 to 21, DoorDash is offering a Posh Chocobo Summoning Materia code for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to DashPass customers who order from Popeye’s Buffalo Ranch Menu.

The news of this cross-promotion broke out on X (previously known as Twitter) and Reddit where users shared screenshots from their DoorDash app. According to the comments, very few people approve of this business practice. X user Wario64 shared a screenshot of the promotion, and the comments were very negative, to say the least.

“No one buy this so they never try this again and it discourages other companies,” wrote user jacksonbrandoni. More users noted how locking content behind such a specific act made it impossible for many. “So you have to order a specific thing, from a specific restaurant, using a specific ordering service, and you also have to be subscribed to their membership… We don’t even have a Popeyes,” says user DistantFoxx.

Indeed, those who don’t live in a town or country where DoorDash services are available can seemingly say goodbye to ever having a Posh Chocobo Summoning Materia in their FF7 Rebirth. Even those that do have DoorDash, including the DashPass Exclusive, may not be able to get the promotional code because they don’t have a Popeyes where they live.

And even if you have both Popeyes and DashPass, this is essentially a $25 to $30 DLC for a single summoning Materia in FF7 Rebirth. 

This isn’t the first time SquareEnix has partnered with DoorDash. During last year’s Game Awards, Geoff Keighley announced players could get a free burrito and a copy of Final Fantasy XVI if they ordered food through DoorDash. 

It also brings to mind the infamous Cup Noodles scene from Final Fantasy XV. It’s clear players don’t like to have ads in or outside their favorite Final Fantasy games, but it seems unlikely this is the last time we’ll have content locked behind food delivery service paywalls.