Ubisoft Shuts Down XDefiant, Issues Refunds to Players

Ubisoft has announced that its free-to-play hero shooter, XDefinant, is having its development discontinued and the game will be shutting down next June.

XDefiant launched late May of this year after running its first closed alpha playtest back in 2021 after it was announced to the public in July of that year. It never really took off with players, which is clearly an important step to hit when launching a live service game. The game was supposed to originally launch in 2023 but was delayed due to the playtest "surfac[ing] some inconsistencies in the game experience". See below for the original launch delay message.

Triple-A development is hard; Live service free-to-play games are even harder with the huge resources being sunk into projects that must see constant updates to keep players hooked on them. With that, the landscape in games is very competitive so the risk of creating yet another live service hero shooter title, you're going to be competing with already established audience. Ubisoft had dropped the Tom Clancy title from the game during development to allow them to bring in characters from their whole suite of games, likely as a way to appeal to more players, but its clear this never worked out for them in the end.

Ubisoft has had a rough couple of years with the company seeing five of their executives being arrested in France in 2023 due to sexual harassment and assault charges, the controversy surrounding Assassin's Creed Shadows which showed disrespect to Japan through inaccurate history and cultural respect, and most recently (change.org petition), the company being a target of a class action lawsuit for shutting down the servers for The Crew. Ubisoft has been plagued by these external and internal issues over the past decade, and there seems to be no end in sight. Extensive microtransactions, problematic game launches, and their NFT project ideas are just a few of the topics to mention.

Ubisoft's original logo for XDefiant as it appeared during the closed alpha.

From the job side of it, Ubisoft is laying off some employees that were a part of XDefiant's development. Their San Francisco and Osaka production studios are being closed and their Sydney studio will see the loss of developers as well. In total, 277 people are expected to be leaving the company with the remainder, about half (no concrete numbers), will be staying with the company in other roles.

XDefiant will be playable until June 3 of next year, and they do plan to launch Season 3. Read on for important information regarding refunds.

Info on XDefiant Refunds

Ubisoft is refunding some content from the game.

• If you made a purchase of coins, the Gold Pack, Starter Pack, or Combat Pack after November 3, 2024, you will receive a refund.
• If you purchased the Ultimate Founders Pack, you will be refunded.
• If you purchased the Founder's Pack or Founder's Pack Elite, you will not be refunded.

Quote From Ubisoft

Thank you for your incredible dedication and support of XDEFIANT. We regret to inform you that we are initiating the sunset process starting today, December 3^rd, 2024. As a result, new downloads, player registrations and purchases will no longer be available. Season 3 will still launch, so stay tuned for more updates to come. The servers will remain active, and the game will be fully playable until June 3^rd, 2025.

Here is a personal message from our Executive Producer, Mark Rubin.

For those who purchased the Ultimate Founders Pack, you will receive a full refund. Additionally, players who have made VC and DLC purchases since November 3^rd, 2024, will also be fully refunded. Please note that processing these refunds will take up to 8 weeks. For more details on refunds, please continue to our FAQ section.

We understand that this news may come as a disappointment, and we deeply appreciate the time and passion you have invested in our community. Our goal is to provide you with all the information you need in one convenient place, while acknowledging that we may not have all the answers just yet. We are committed to keeping you informed and supported throughout this process. Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

1. What do I need to do to get my refund?

Refunds will be managed by the storefronts where you made your purchases. All partners will automatically process refunds within 8 weeks. If you do not receive your refund by January 28^th, 2025, please visit Ubisoft.com/help.

2. What content will be refunded?

Please find below a detailed list of DLC and VC content that is eligible for refund if purchased on November 3^rd, 2024, or later.

Reminder your refunds will be processed automatically within 8 weeks. If you did not receive your refund by January 28^th, 2025, please contact our support at Ubisoft.com/help.

XDefiant Gold Pack
XDefiant Starter Pack DLC
XDefiant Combat Pack DLC

XDefiant VC Pack - 500 XCoins
XDefiant VC Pack - 1000 XCoins
XDefiant VC Pack - 2100 XCoins
XDefiant VC Pack - 5750 XCoins
XDefiant VC Pack - 12000 XCoins

3. Will the founders pack be refunded?

Those who purchased the Ultimate Founder's Pack, will receive a full refund.

The Founder's Pack and Founder's Pack Elite are not eligible for refunds.

4. Can I still purchase VC and DLC packs?

All DLC and VC purchase will be disabled from all store fronts and platforms starting December 3^rd 2024.

Original Announcement

Quote From Ubisoft

Today, I wanted to share with you that we’ve made the difficult decision to discontinue development on XDefiant.

Despite an encouraging start, the team’s passionate work, and a committed fan base, we’ve not been able to attract and retain enough players in the long run to compete at the level we aim for in the very demanding free-to-play FPS market. As a result, the game is too far away from reaching the results required to enable further significant investment, and we are announcing that we will be sunsetting it.

Concretely, that means that as of today, new downloads, player registrations and purchases will no longer be available. Season 3 will still launch, and the servers will remain active until June 3, 2025, out of appreciation for both our dev teams who worked on it and for XDefiant’s active players.

Unfortunately, the discontinuation of XDefiant brings difficult consequences for the teams working on this game. Even if almost half of the XDefiant team worldwide will be transitioning to other roles within Ubisoft, this decision also leads to the closing of our San Francisco and Osaka production studios and to the ramp down of our Sydney production site, with 143 people departing in San Francisco and 134 people likely to depart in Osaka and Sydney. To those team members leaving Ubisoft, I want to express my deepest gratitude for your work and contributions. Please know that we are committed to supporting you during this transition.

Developing Games-as-a-Service experiences remains a pillar of our strategy, and we’ve achieved significant successes, like Rainbow Six, The Crew, and For Honor, among others. It’s a highly competitive market, and we will apply the lessons learned with XDefiant to our future live titles.

Globally, we are determined to take the necessary steps to put the company back on a path to growth, innovation and creativity and make sure we can set you up for success. This means continuing to radically evolve our mindset for Production and Business practices, which we will share more about soon, and doing targeted restructuring when necessary. I know that the situation brings questions and expectations, and we will share regular and transparent updates.

My sincere thanks for your continued dedication as we navigate these trying times together.

Marie-Sophie de Waubert, Chief Studios and Portfolio Officer