- XDefiant to shut down new downloads starting December 3, 2024
- Servers will remain active for existing players until June 2025
- Refunds available for recent purchases and Ultimate Founder’s Pack
With a heavy heart, Ubisoft has confirmed the shutdown of XDefiant, its free-to-play first-person shooter, within a short span after its release in May 2024.
From Records to Retirement
Starting December 3, 2024, new downloads and registrations will no longer be considered. Current players can continue playing it as the servers will remain active until June 3, 2025, but unfortunately, no new player can access the game now.
In a heartfelt announcement on X (formerly Twitter), Mark Rubin, the game’s executive producer, explained the reasons behind the decision.
“This journey became too much to sensibly continue,”
Rubin wrote while grieving. Despite the promising start, XDefiant couldn’t keep up the player’s interest, and as the months passed by the user number declined drastically, making it quite arduous for the game to survive in a highly competitive market, where other popular installments maintain their hegemony.
Despite continuous updates and efforts to improve, it struggled to retain its player base. He mentioned,
“The early response from players when XDefiant launched was amazing—we broke internal records for the fastest game to surpass 5 million users and in the end we had over 15 million players play our game!”
Rubin acknowledged the challenges of developing a new free-to-play game:
“Free-to-play, in particular, is a long journey. Many free-to-play games take a long time to find their footing and become profitable.”
Ubisoft Bids Farewell
Ubisoft has announced the refund of money for players who purchased Ultimate Founder’s Pack or made any transactions in the last 30 days. “Those refunds should happen automatically within 8 weeks of today.”
He ended the post with positive remarks and appreciation toward both the development team and the passionate community that has shown valuable support to the game.
“I want to applaud not only the Dev team but also Ubisoft leadership for taking that chance!” 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.”
Ultimately, this sudden closure of a well-ambitious title brings light to the challenges and high competition persisting in the gaming community, giving tough time to such games.
