Intro

Ubisoft is calling it quits on xDefiant despite the promising initial metrics. That said, the numbers have dwindled over time which ended up being the reason to pull the plug but fingers are still being actively pointed at different parties while trying to figure out whose fault it was.

Shut down date, new season and refunds

xDefiant will shut down on June 3, 2025. The announcement came exactly half a year before that, on December 3, 2024.

In a lengthy post, Mark Rubin the Executive Producer explained the shutdown plan which includes the release of a new season in the future. Currently, there is no release date but Season 3 is apparently coming in the near future.

If you wanted to check it out before the servers go down, you are not in luck. Both purchases and new registrations have been blocked and will remain that way until the lights are out.

All Founder’s Edition copies will be refunded and any microtransactions from the 30 days preceding the announcement will get the same treatment.

Who is to blame?

Much like other recent Ubisoft releases, xDefiant had issues on multiple fronts. Two of the most glaring mistakes are the bad netcode implementation and the refusal to release it on Steam.

With bad netcode came inconsistent gameplay in a shooter that had the makings of a competitive title, which easily infuriated the players and led to an exodus. Without a Steam release, Ubisoft missed out on an opportunity to dip into a massive player base. But who is behind all this?

Looking at the bad netcode, one might be in a rush to put the blame on the developers but the problems with xDefiant are a bit deeper.

At the surface level, it seems like the leadership is not harboring ill will towards the team but there are reports of the same leadership refusing to take responsibility for the game’s shortcomings and issues being swept under the rug.

With another routine round of layoffs, which are likely to cost 170 or so developers their livelihood, as well as a perception that excluding skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) is a move that would “shake up the genre”, it certainly looks like the wrong people were making the calls.