Ubisoft has spent a long time working on XDefiant, and now it’s reportedly shutting down—according to reports. The 2024 shooter is seen as a big rival to Call of Duty, so let’s find out everything we know about XDefiant’s future, and if you need to play for big changes.
The online first-person shooter landscape is primarily dominated by the same faces. When you narrow it down to military shooters though, the pool shortens more so. Battlefield 2042 notoriously launched to negative reception, and many contemporaries are either hero shooters or third-person titles. XDefiant was supposed to be just that, a defiant stance catering to shooter fans tired of the annual Call of Duty release.
XDefiant’s beta performed well, Ubisoft responded to player feedback as they said they would, and the worldwide launch was hotter than a dinner part with The Cleaners faction. Let’s see if things have gone south since, and what it could mean.
Is XDefiant Shutting Down?
XDefiant is officially shutting down in June 2025, and the shooter is set to receive hugely reduced content updates moving forward.
Insider Gaming first broke the news on Dec. 3, that XDefiant is shutting down for good. The major details revealed, that “a skeleton crew [is] maintaining the title until June 2025,” and that once Season 3 launches, this signals the end of XDefiant’s regular content schedule, instead, the occasional update is expected to follow based on already-made assets and parts. This is in stark contrast to recent reports that XDefiant wouldn’t shut down after Season 4.
Worse still, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot issued a company-wide memo to “pay tribute to the tremendous work done by the XDefiant’s teams,” but discussed downsizing by way of “The closure of the San Francisco and Osaka studios, and the ramp down of the Sydney production site.”
It’s understood Ubisoft is refunding players for any cosmetic purchases and Founder’s Packs.
Why is XDefiant Shutting Down?
According to sources close to the situation, “Poor player numbers and a lack of player spending” are the reasons for XDefiant shutting down in 2025.
XDefiant is a free-to-play, live-service title, and as such, it means the shooter’s revenue comes from the voluntary purchases of players. Battle Passes, Skins, and specialist currency are all part of the XDefiant e-commerce system. It appears XDefiant players were not spending enough money on optional cosmetics, leading the shooter to “fall behind expectations.“
It seems bizarre in hindsight, as XDefiant’s debut registered a whopping one million unique players in under three hours. The numbers skyrocketed to eight million unique players by the end of its first full week. It wasn’t to be though, as player numbers began to tail off, and XDefiant’s downfall slowly unfolded during the next few months.
Are you sad to see XDefiant hang up its holsters already? Could Ubisoft have done anything differently with the FPS title? Let us know down below. Be sure to look at the XDefiant roadmap detailing the final planned content.
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