Failure in the free-to-play shooter market: Ubisoft closes XDefiant and lays off 277 employees
In the spring of 2024, Ubisoft released the free online shooter XDefiant, which was quite popular in the first months and gathered many players, but the competition among free shooters (especially when CS2 is available) was too strong and the project was closed.
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Ubisoft announced the closure of its free-to-play shooter XDefiant. This decision led to the closure of two of the company's studios and the dismissal of 277 employees. In a statement published on the company's website, Head of Studios and Portfolio Marie-Sophie de Woeber noted that despite an encouraging start and a loyal fan base, Ubisoft was unable to attract enough players to compete sustainably in the demanding free-to-play shooter market.
De Woeber explained that the game did not achieve the necessary results for further investment, so the company decided to "close the project". Although new downloads, registrations, and purchases are no longer available, the third season of XDefiant will still be released as planned, and the servers will remain active until 3 June 2025.
In addition to the cancellation of XDefiant, Ubisoft also announced the closure of its San Francisco and Osaka studios, as well as a reduction in production in Sydney. This will lead to the layoff of more than half of the XDefiant team worldwide. Other project employees will have the opportunity to move to other positions in the company.
In his address to the XDefiant community, Executive Producer Mark Rubin expressed his gratitude to the players and stressed that free-to-play games often take time to develop and achieve profitability. He noted that the team was ready to go this way, but the situation became too difficult to continue.
Source: eurogamer
