Ubisoft shutting down XDefiant in 2025, shedding half of its group

Ubisoft will shut down its free-to-play shooter XDefiant, Ubisoft introduced Tuesday. Servers will stay on till June 3, 2025, however the sport will not be provided for obtain, and participant registration might be closed. Regardless of the sunsetting, XDefiant gamers will get entry to its third-season content material someday within the “close to future.” Practically 300 individuals — 143 within the San Francisco workplace and 134 throughout Ubisoft’s Osaka and Sydney areas — might be laid off. The opposite half of the XDefiant manufacturing group will transfer onto different roles at Ubisoft, in line with chief studios and portfolio officer Marie-Sophie de Waubert.

“Regardless of an encouraging begin, the group’s passionate work, and a dedicated fan base, we’ve not been in a position to entice and retain sufficient gamers in the long term to compete on the stage we purpose for within the very demanding free-to-play FPS market,” de Waubert wrote in an inside discover printed on the Ubisoft web site. “In consequence, the sport is simply too far-off from reaching the outcomes required to allow additional important funding, and we’re asserting that we are going to be sunsetting it.”

With XDefiant shutting down and the tons of of layoffs, Ubisoft stated it’s closing its San Francisco and Osaka manufacturing studios totally. Insider Gaming reported {that a} “skeleton crew” might be stored on to maintain XDefiant operating till its complete closure.

XDefiant gamers who bought the $69.99 Final Founder’s Pack will get a full, automated refund, in line with XDefiant govt producer Mark Rubin in a letter to the group. All purchases made throughout the prior 30 days might be refunded, too. Nonetheless, in line with a Ubisoft FAQ, “the Founder’s Pack and Founder’s Pack Elite will not be eligible for refunds.” Rubin stated gamers ought to anticipate any refunds inside eight weeks.

XDefiant was launched on Could 21 of this yr, following an announcement of the venture in 2021. At launch, the sport was seemingly successful: It reportedly reached 1 million gamers inside hours of its official launch, in line with Insider Gaming. No official participant or income numbers have been launched, however Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated throughout an investor name in September that the sport didn’t meet expectations. In October, Rubin posted on X that numbers have been down attributable to “little or no advertising,” a method designed to “get the sport in a greater place” earlier than ramping up advertising to draw new and lapsed gamers. He wrote that he was “crystal clear” in that there have been no plans to shut XDefiant after its fourth season, following an Insider Gaming report.

In its most up-to-date earnings report in late October, Ubisoft reported that its gross sales have been down almost 20%, however that engagement metrics for its video games have been up. Ubisoft additionally reported that it decreased its workers by greater than 2,000 individuals within the prior 24 months — a quantity that’s possible a combination of each layoffs and voluntary departures. Ubisoft employs 18,666 individuals as of September, with the corporate reportedly “on observe” to proceed decreasing prices. (Employees retention, it stated, was good — “near historic ranges.) Star Wars Outlaws underperformed, Ubisoft stated, however stayed quiet on the standing of XDefiant — so quiet on the sport that an analyst questioned Guillemont on the sport’s dwindling success. “XDefiant is behind our expectations however the games-as-a-service technique stays core,” Guillemont stated on the time. That line nonetheless seems to be true: de Waubert stated within the discover to workers on Tuesday that games-as-a-service stays “a pillar” of Ubisoft’s technique, citing success with Rainbow Six, The Crew, and For Honor.