Ubisoft is closing down XDefiant, shuttering studios in San Francisco and Japan, and laying off over 250 employees

Ubisoft is delisting XDefiant and plans to close servers after the FPS game’s third season ends, a move that coincides with two studio closures and nearly 300 layoffs

Ubisoft

Ubisoft is delisting XDefiant and plans to close servers after the FPS game’s third season ends, a move that coincides with two studio closures and nearly 300 layoffs. Ubisoft made the announcement about XDefiant’s future in a graphic on social media and informed staff about studio closures in an email that GameFile’s Stephen Totilo obtained.

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The news comes a few weeks after Sony announced it was delisting Concord and closing its developer, Firewalk.

Ubisoft has already delisted XDefiant – which means new players can no longer download the game – though the company pledged to keep servers on through XDefiant’s third season. 

XDefiant will go offline permanently on June 3, 2025. Those who purchased the Founder’s Pack will receive refunds, and any purchases made within the last 30 days as of Dec. 3, 2024, will also be refunded.

Hello XDefiant Fans,

I am unfortunately here today to announce that XDefiant will be shutting down.

Starting today (December 3, 2024), new downloads and player registrations will no longer be available. We will still release our Season 3 content in the near future (exact date…

— Mark Rubin (@PixelsofMark) December 3, 2024

Meanwhile, Totilo said Ubisoft is closing its San Francisco and Osaka studios and “ramping down” work at Ubisoft Sydney. The number of layoffs will reportedly be around 277. Totilo also said the company envisioned XDefiant as a Call of Duty competitor and held out hope that its fortunes might turn around until recently, even denying rumors that XDefiant was in trouble despite seeing player counts dwindling.

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Call of Duty’s annual installments have been the best-selling games for 12 of the past 23 years, with massive player bases, a blend of single-player and multiplayer components, and dedicated audience development plans. Even if XDefiant stood a chance at competing with Activision’s massive franchise, it would’ve taken more than just six months, not to mention a much clearer vision for what the game is and who it’s for. That's especially true seeing as Ubisoft already has two multiplayer shooters on the market, Rainbow Six Siege and The Division 2.

Neither Ubisoft nor Totilo said whether management responsible for XDefiant would be included in the approximately 277 layoffs.