Ubisoft has announced that XDefiant will cease operations on June 3, 2025. Furthermore, Ubisoft is shutting down its offices in Osaka, Japan, and San Francisco.
Ubisoft clarified that as of today, December 3, downloads, player registrations, and purchases of XDefiant are no longer possible. However, XDefiant's third season will proceed as scheduled, and the game will remain playable until the shutdown date.
"Today, Ubisoft announced that it will halt development on XDefiant, its free-to-play first-person shooter title. Consequently, half of the XDefiant team globally will be reassigned to other roles within Ubisoft," Ubisoft stated in a message to GameSpot.
This decision also results in the closure of the San Francisco and Osaka production studios, along with the scaling down of the Sydney production site, affecting 143 employees in San Francisco and 134 in Osaka and Sydney.
In a farewell message, executive producer Mark Rubin revealed that XDefiant attracted a total of 15 million players. XDefiant positioned itself as a competitor to Call of Duty, aiming to stand out by eliminating skill-based matchmaking in favor of a more "old-school" arcade shooter experience.
In September, Ubisoft dismissed reports of XDefiant losing players. In October, Rubin confirmed that the game's second season was still on track and denied rumors of its impending shutdown.
In GameSpot's review of XDefiant, it was noted, "Combat is enjoyable enough to keep it playable, and XDefiant's core mechanics are promising. However, the competition is fierce, and there are superior alternatives that don't suffer from the same issues."
Source link: https://www.gamespot.com
