Ubisoft has announced the discontinuation of its free-to-play first-person shooter, XDefiant, a move that will also result in the closure of the company’s production studios in San Francisco and Osaka. The decision will lead to the loss of 143 jobs in San Francisco and around 134 positions in Osaka and Sydney as Ubisoft scales back its operations.
XDefiant was initially met with excitement, but Ubisoft determined that it failed to attract a large enough player base to compete with other established free-to-play shooters. The company stated that after a thorough evaluation of the game’s performance, profitability, and the current market conditions, it became clear that further investment would not be sustainable. Moving forward, Ubisoft intends to adopt a more selective approach to its research and development investments.
Despite this setback, Ubisoft confirmed that half of the XDefiant team will be reassigned to other roles within the company. Furthermore, XDefiant’s Season 3 will still be launched, and the game’s servers will remain active until June 3, 2025, giving players time to enjoy the remaining content before the servers are shut down.
Industry analysts have pointed out that Ubisoft’s struggles reflect the challenges facing game developers in the highly competitive shooter market. Piotr Bogusz, an analyst at Erste Group, noted that “the cancellation of the project shows how tough the shooter market is, where it is difficult to break through among strong IPs that have dominated the segment for years.”
This announcement follows a series of challenges for Ubisoft, including delays and underperforming titles such as Star Wars Outlaws, which failed to meet sales expectations. These setbacks have led to a sharp decline in the company’s stock value, which has fallen by nearly 50% this year.
However, Ubisoft remains committed to its Games-as-a-Service (GAAS) model, which has proven successful with titles like Rainbow Six, The Crew, and For Honor. The company sees these titles as key to its long-term strategy, focusing on sustaining player engagement and growth.
Looking ahead, Ubisoft aims to apply the lessons learnt from XDefiant to its future free-to-play projects, refining its approach to better navigate the competitive gaming landscape and enhance the chances of success for new initiatives.
