Ubisoft’s problems compound with the sudden shutdown of ‘XDefiant’

In mid-October, rumors were swirling that Ubisoft was planning to shut down XDefiant, its struggling free-to-play first-person shooter game. Producer Mark Rubin took to social media to categorically deny that chatter. Tuesday afternoon, he was back on X.com—this time to announce the game was indeed ending.

Ubisoft has pulled the plug on XDefiant just six months after its full release. The servers will close on June 3 of next year. That’s not quite as fast as Sony’s euthanasia of its online shooter Concord, but it’s still a remarkably short lifespan for a title that the company had hoped would be an ongoing revenue stream. And it’s the latest in a series of misfires at what, not too long ago, was one of the top publishers in the video game industry.

XDefiant started strong, breaking Ubisoft internal records for the fastest game to surpass five million players. Ultimately, that number topped 15 million. But the initial enthusiasm faded quickly and by earlier this fall, the number of concurrent players had fallen below 20,000, an unsustainable number.

As many as 277 employees will be let go as a result of the decision.

The shutdown of XDefiant, especially so soon after Concord’s scuttling, could be just another sign of how challenging the live-service game market is. But on the heels of the blowback Ubisoft faced with the launch of Star Wars Outlaws and the recent delay of the next entry in its Assassin’s Creed franchise, it continues to raise questions about Ubisoft’s ability to execute—and connect with its fans.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, in an internal memo to staff after the XDefiant decision was made, acknowledged the troubles, but said he was committed to correcting them.

“I want you to know that all my energy is focused on finding the means to guide Ubisoft through these turbulent times,” he wrote. “I am working tirelessly with my team to identify the best solutions so we can maintain control of our destiny. This company—the incredible gem we’ve built together over the past 38 years—means everything to me. It’s a part of who I am, it’s in my core. I’m doing everything I can to help us regain momentum, so that we can continue to make Ubisoft a key player in our industry.”

Step one of regaining that momentum was taking corrective steps for Outlaws. The company issued a patch late last month that was meant to improve combat and stealth in the game, to largely positive reception. Whether that will result in more players, though, is a big question. Ubisoft cut its sales expectations in half in early October and hasn’t altered that forecast.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the company’s biggest release in four years, still faces a challenging climate following its delay and the inclusion of a history-inspired Black samurai named Yasuke as one of the lead characters, which has irked some members of the gaming community.

At the same time, the company has seen several key executives depart in the past six months. In July, Davide Soliani, the creative director of the Mario + Rabbids franchise, left Ubisoft. And in October, Cameron Lee, the vice president of the Rainbow Six franchise, departed the company.

All of this discord comes as rumors swirl that Ubisoft is considering a buyout that would take it private, with shareholders Tencent and the Guillemot family leading those efforts. Ubisoft has said it “regularly reviews all its strategic options in the interest of its stakeholders and will inform the market if and when appropriate.”

Ubisoft has overcome negative impressions with players before and cleared some high business hurdles, but recovering from that position a second time could be a much higher ask.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91240763/ubisofts-problems-compound-with-the-sudden-shutdown-of-xdefiant?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss