Trending
Ubisoft officially announced today the shutdown of XDefiant, the free-to-play first-person shooter. While it found a good player base in the initial days of the release, it failed to keep up momentum and lost players drastically over time. Despite some encouraging soundbites from the development team in recent times, the publisher has pulled the plug.
Starting today, new downloads for XDefiant will no longer be possible, but the servers will still be available for those already in the game until June 3. Season 3 content will launch, but people who purchase the Founder's Pack, or make in-game purchases within the last 30 days will be refunded.
Executive Producer Mark Rubin said: "Free-to-play games often take time to reach their potential. Unfortunately, continuing this journey became unsustainable".
Additionally, the report indicates that Ubisoft is closing its San Francisco and Osaka studios, both of which were major developers of XDefiant. This is allegedly going to lead to about 170-180 layoffs, per Insider Gaming.
Rubin added, with a fairly touching message to the development team, "This project has been a personal passion of mine, and it's killing me to deliver this news. I want to give a shout-out to the great talent involved in making this game. Though not every challenge outcome will bring success, I hope they know they've really accomplished something."
XDefiant launched on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC and garnered more than 15 million players before its closure. Regarding the game's success, Rubin says, "Yeah, it was a tough result despite an amazing team. Just incredibly proud of everyone's efforts and accomplishments amid challenges.".
DON'T MISS:
