Ubisoft to shut down XDefiant, close two studios

XDefiant, the recently released free-to-play multiplayer shooter from Ubisoft, will soon shut down.

In a blog post, Marie-Sophie de Waubert, the publisher’s chief studios and portfolio officer, confirmed that XDefiant will no longer be available for download or support in-app purchases. Servers will remain live for existing players until June 3rd, 2025, and Ubisoft said it still intends to launch the previously confirmed Season 3 of new content before then.

“Despite an encouraging start, the team’s passionate work, and a committed fan base, we’ve not been able to attract and retain enough players in the long run to compete at the level we aim for in the very demanding free-to-play FPS market. As a result, the game is too far away from reaching the results required to enable further significant investment, and we are announcing that we will be sunsetting it,” wrote de Waubert on the blog.

As part of the game’s shutdown, de Waubert confirmed that main developer Ubisoft San Francisco and support team Ubisoft Osaka will be closed, resulting in a total of 277 employees being laid off. A spokesperson for Ubisoft Canada confirmed to MobileSyrup that no employees at the company’s Canadian studios have been affected.

Ubisoft will continue with the games-as-a-service model

XDefiant launched in May to mixed reviews. It was originally pitched as a crossover between Ubisoft’s various Tom Clancy brands, including Splinter Cell and The Division, but eventually dropped that branding. In the summer, it was reported that Ubisoft had been considering shutting the game down amid dwindling player counts, but the publisher denied this at the time.

XDefiant comes during a transitional period for Ubisoft. In recent years, the company has been following the broader industry’s push towards online gaming, which includes XDefiant and upcoming live service versions of Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. However, like many companies chasing that trend, Ubisoft has struggled as of late. This year alone, the publisher’s long-gestating pirate multiplayer game Skull & Bones quietly came with little fanfare, while its highly-promoted but moderately well-received Star Wars Outlaws and even the critically acclaimed Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown underperformed commercially.

It speaks to the challenges that many companies face in dropping new multiplayer games when many of the most popular titles continue to be older releases, like Fortnite, Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto Online. This has led Ubisoft to undergo a cost reduction plan which includes limited hiring, targeted restructurings, and decreased spending. Ubisoft Quebec’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which was originally set to launch in November, was also delayed to February to allow for more polishing time in part in response to criticisms levied towards Star Wars Outlaws over technical issues.

In the XDefiant blog post, de Waubert acknowledged that Ubisoft is “determined to take the necessary steps to put the company back on a path to growth, innovation and creativity.” She says this includes “continuing to radically evolve our mindset for Production and Business practices, which we will share more about soon, and doing targeted restructuring when necessary.”

For now, she notes that developing games-as-a-service like XDefiant “remains a pillar of our strategy,” noting that it’s seen “significant successes” in this space with the likes of Rainbox Six, The Crew and For Honor.

“It’s a highly competitive market, and we will apply the lessons learned with XDefiant to our future live titles,” she said.

Image credit: Ubisoft

Source: Ubisoft