Remember When Ubisoft Said xDefiant Wasn't "Dying"? Yeah, They're Officially Sunsetting The Game, Layoffs Incoming

Unreal.

Look, Ubisoft has been a mess this year. Strikes and lawsuits, layoffs, dumb comments and attempts to get Steam to hide player counts, and rumors regarding taking the company private have been the gist of 2023 and 2024.

That trend continues according to Game File reporter Stephen Totilo. Totilo reports that Ubisoft will be laying off more employees, and the count comes in at about 277 of the company's staff. Specifically, Ubisoft San Francisco and Osaka will be closing/ramping down their production studios, and half of xDefiant's team will move to other projects.

Wait...didn't the team just deny rumors that xDefiant was dying and only had until season 3 to turn things around? Indeed they did, my friend, indeed they did. However, in my coverage of that "we're not dying" blog, I did point out that they didn't ACTUALLY deny the "season 3" timer rumors, they just said the game wasn't dying.

Turns out, things will end sooner than that...kinda.

xDefiant is "sunsetting. If you aren't already a registered player, it's too late. You cannot register now. If you're already a registered account, you can still play the game (including the upcoming Season 3, date TBD) until the servers go fully offline on June 3rd, 2025. No additional content will be added once Season 3 launches, and there will be no "offline" option post-June.

Refunds are being given out if you purchased VC or DLC after November 3rd. The purchase of the Ultimate Founder's Pack will be fully refunded, too. Refunds can take up to 8 weeks to receive. Check the full FAQ to make sure you're eligible for a refund.

So much for CEO Yves Guillmont's desire to see the shooter be a "serious esport," something he said just 6 months ago.

Mark Rubin, the Executive Director of xDefiant and the one who said the game wasn't dying, points at how long F2P games need to "find their footing and become profitable" as the main reason for the shutdown. Ubisoft, according to Rubin, was willing to take that risk...until recently. Rubin also thanks the team and the players, and hopes that Ubisoft can take away lessons on the benefits of having transparency between players and devs that he apparently prides xDefiant as having enjoyed.

I'm not sure I agree with him there. There are certainly benefits to transparency, yes, but I wouldn't exactly hold up xDefiant as the model of said transparency. I mean, there's no way this sunsetting decision wasn't already known when rumors broke...yet, the team came out and tried to squash the rumor as false without saying it was false. But I digress...

Rubin closes by saying, "To our players, THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, I want to express my deepest gratitude for the incredible community that has grown around XDefiant. Your passion, creativity, and dedication have inspired us every step of the way."