Ubisoft is pulling the plug on XDefiant, effectively shutting down its servers in June next year. Read on to learn more about this surprising news and what will happen to XDefiant’s players.
XDefiant is Shutting Down its Servers on June 2025
“Sunset” Process Initiating
Ubisoft is officially shutting down XDefiant servers on June 3, 2025, ending its short-lived journey as a free-to-play shooter game. The “sunset” or shutdown process will start by December 3, 2024, barring new players to download, register, and purchase the game and its DLCs. Ubisoft is also on their way to refund in-game purchases.
“For those who purchased the Ultimate Founders Pack, you will receive a full refund. Additionally, players who have made VC and DLC purchases since November 3rd, 2024, will also be fully refunded. Please note that processing these refunds will take up to 8 weeks.”
Players are expected to receive their refunds by January 28, 2025. If a player did not receive a refund by that date, they can contact Ubisoft for further assistance. Moreover, only the Ultimate Founder’s Pack is eligible for a refund. The Founder’s Pack and Founder’s Pack Elite cannot be refunded by players.
Why is Ubisoft Shutting Down XDefiant?
Ubisoft’s Chief Studios and Portfolio Officer, Marie-Sophie Waubert, revealed the reason behind XDefiant’s shutdown. According to Ubisoft’s blog post on December 4, the game failed to meet expectations to sustain itself in a highly competitive F2P or free-to-play market.
“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,” she shared. “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.”
Half of the Team Transitioning to Other Roles
Half of XDefiant’s team members will leave Ubisoft, while the others will take on other roles within the company. Moreover, the studios responsible for developing the game will close or scale down their employee numbers.
“Almost half of the XDefiant team worldwide will be transitioning to other roles within Ubisoft,” said Waubert. “This decision also leads to the closing of our San Francisco and Osaka production studios and to the ramp down of our Sydney production site, with 143 people departing in San Francisco and 134 people likely to depart in Osaka and Sydney.”
Ubisoft recently let go of 45 employees across its American studios in San Francisco, California, and North Carolina last August 16, 2024. Ubisoft Toronto faced the same issue, as the company decided to lay off 33 employees. The company reassured laid-off workers that it would help them through severance packages and a career assistance program.
Leaving the Game on a Positive Note
Despite its initial success, XDefiant did not meet Ubisoft’s expectations, prompting the company to shut the game down. The game was released on May 21, 2024 and it broke Ubisoft’s internal record of having 5 million users in a short period of time. 15 million have played the game throughout its course, however, the sudden news indicated that the game’s performance is not profitable enough for Ubisoft to support it.
“Free-to-play, in particular, is a long journey. Many free-to-play games take a long time to find their footing and become profitable,” said XDefiant’s Executive Producer Mark Rubin. “It’s a long journey that Ubisoft and the teams working on the game were prepared to make until very recently. But unfortunately, the journey became too much to sensibly continue.”
Despite this heartbreaking announcement, Rubin still leaves a positive note with XDefiant’s shutdown. He emphasized the unique experience between players and the developers through “non-toxic conversations,” allowing them to communicate openly and in a respectful manner.
“To our players, THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, I want to express my deepest gratitude for the incredible community that has grown around XDefiant. Your passion, creativity, and dedication have inspired us every step of the way.”
Season 3 is Still Releasing Amidst Shutdown Announcement
Though Xdefiant’s servers are shutting down next year, Season 3 will launch as planned. Though there is no detailed information about this upcoming season, many speculated that it will include content from the popular Assassin’s Creed series.
According to the game’s Year 1 Roadmap blog post released last September 2024, XDefiant’s Season 3 includes a new faction, weapons, maps, mode, and more. However, the last season will only be available for players who purchased the game before December 3, 2024, since new and interested players are barred from downloading the game as part of its “sunset process.”
This particular blog post was deleted and replaced by Xdefiant’s shutdown announcement, titled “Our Message to Players.”
Ubisoft Pulling the Plug on XDefiant Reported Early On
On August 29, 2024, Insider Gaming reported that XDefiant is dying because of a low player count, according to several sources they have from Ubisoft. Though Rubin denied this claim in the game’s Year 1 Roadmap blog post, their recent announcement says otherwise.
“Is the game dying? No, the game is absolutely not dying,” Rubin claimed. “We know there are things we need to improve, like Netcode/Hitreg and adding more content to progression, but the game is doing well.”
These sources apparently claimed that XDefiant executives are “betting all their money on Season 3 to turn things around.” However, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was released between the game’s Season 2 and Season 3, potentially dampening interest in XDefiant despite its third season’s upcoming release. Ultimately, Ubisoft decided to cut its losses and announce the game’s shut down ahead of its Season 3 release.
Sources:
Xdefiant: Our Message to Players
Ubisoft Discontinues Development on XDefiant
Mark Rubin’s Personal Message
EXCLUSIVE – XDefiant is on Borrowed Time as Player Numbers Decline Rapidly
