Ubisoft is giving up on XDefiant

Ubisoft's first-person shooter XDefiant, which launched less than six months ago with some success, will shut down on June 3, 2025. As part of that, the studio will close three production studios and lay off 277 employees. 

New downloads, player registrations, and purchases will no longer be available starting today, However, Season 3 will launch as planned and servers will remain online until June 3. Players who purchased the Ultimate Founders Pack or bought anything in the last 30 days will automatically receive full refunds within eight weeks.

"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," said Ubisoft's chief studios and portfolio officer Marie-Sophie de Waubert. 

Ubisoft confirmed that it will close its Osaka and San Francisco studios while ramping down its Sydney site. That will result in the loss of 277 jobs, or just over half of XDefiant's team, with the other half transitioning to other parts of the company. "I want to express my deepest gratitude for your work and contributions. Please know that we are committed to supporting you during this transition," de Waubert told departing employees.

At one time, XDefiant was Ubisoft's fastest growing game ever, hitting 5 million users sooner than any of its other titles and eventually counting up to 15 million players. However, it couldn't build on that success and last month, rumors began to circulate that XDefiant would be shut down. "The game is too far away from reaching the results required to enable further significant investment," de Waubert said yesterday.

Ubisoft has been going through a rough patch of late. The company recently cancelled The Division: Heartland before it launched and delayed Assassin's Creed Shadows until Valentine's Day 2025, following a disappointing launch for Star Wars Outlaws. Last year, the company cancelled three unannounced projects and commenced a restructuring program that led to over a thousand layoffs.

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