Ubisoft's "Call of Duty Killer" XDefiant to Shut Down Next Year

Proving earlier reports and predictions to be true, Ubisoft has officially announced that XDefiant, the studio's free-to-play FPS hailed by some as a "Call of Duty killer", will be shut down in six months, on June 3, 2025.

First reported by Tom Henderson and later confirmed by XDefiant's Executive Producer Mark Rubin – who previously stated that "there are NO plans to shut down after season 4" – the decision to concord the game was first revealed to Ubisoft developers during an internal all-hands meeting before being officially disclosed to players. According to the sources familiar with the matter, the main reasons for XDefiant biting the dust are nothing uncommon: unsatisfactory player numbers and the game's unprofitability due to low player spending.

As per Rubin's statement, new downloads and player registrations will no longer be available starting today, but XDefiant's Season 3 will still be launched, and its servers maintained until June next year. Players who bought the Ultimate Founders Pack, as well as those who made VC and DLC purchases after November 3, 2024, will be fully refunded. There are, however, no refunds planned for those who purchased the Founder's Pack, Founder's Pack Elite, or in-game currency before November. Moreover, following the example of The Crew – something Ubisoft was recently sued for – there will be no offline mode available after June 3, meaning that once XDefiant is shut down, it is gone for good.

Unsurprisingly, XDefiant getting sent on a trip to Belize has affected not only the players but also the game's developers, most of whom had nothing to do with its failure. According to Stephen Totilo, around 277 developers are set to lose their jobs, with half of the former XDefiant team transitioning to other projects within the studio. Additionally, Ubisoft plans to shut down its San Francisco production office and the Osaka office, though the San Francisco business office will remain operational.

It seems Ubisoft just can't catch a break, finding itself mired in a controversy of some sort week after week. Just recently, the studio faced backlash for integrating Denuvo and mandatory account linking into Assassin's Creed Shadows – a game many see as Ubisoft's last chance at survival, with failure potentially leading to the studio's closure. Combined with Ubisoft's 2024 financial setbacks and other controversies, the prospect of Tencent acquiring the studio is starting to feel less like a monopolist move and more like a lifeline for the once-beloved developer.

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