Several sources have revealed that Ubisoft will be shutting down XDefiant in June 2025.
The news was mentioned in an internal all-hands meeting today. The decision was made due to poor player numbers and a lack of player spending, according to sources familiar with the decision to sunset the game.
It’s understood that layoffs will impact a significant number of employees at the San Francisco studio and supporting studios, with some staff already receiving severance information. Another wave of layoffs will happen in February, with Ubisoft San Francisco and Osaka closing its doors. Around 170-180 people are understood to be losing their jobs.
Season 3 will be the last entire season of XDefiant, with a skeleton crew maintaining the title until June 2025. According to those familiar with the situation, Ubisoft will be updating XDefiant players on refunds for cosmetic items and other purchases at a later date.
XDefiant started its uphill battle soon after the release of Season 1, with a lack of player spending having the team scrabbling to cut costs.
In August 2024, Insider Gaming reported that XDefiant was on borrowed time despite initially having strong player numbers. Frustrations within the studio were always aimed at its leadership, who refused to take responsibility for the project’s shortcomings, which could have been avoided with a better studio culture, said the people.
In late March 2024, I reported on the studio’s toxic work culture, and despite an internal investigation that concluded last month, I was told that the issues had been swept under the rug and that its problems were still prevalent.
UPDATE – Mark Rubin has https://twitter.com/PixelsofMark/status/1864090964748321266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1864090964748321266%7Ctwgr%5Ec7382b5ea525a198c6ed45941a8bc5ef8cb83cee%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finsider-gaming.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D71846action%3Dedit that XDefiant is closing down.
Both current and former employees of Ubisoft can contact me securely and anonymously at [email protected] as I continue to investigate the company’s issues.
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