XDefiant is shutting down as Ubisoft closes San Francisco and Osaka offices following “long journey” of free-to-play struggles, up to 177 devs impacted

Ubisoft has announced the “sunsetting” of its free-to-play first-person shooter XDefiant. Likewise, Ubisoft San Francisco and Ubisoft Osaka are shutting down while Ubisoft’s Sydney office is ramping down.

XDefiant released back in May and reached a million unique players within just two and a half hours, a record for Ubisoft despite the game’s middling reviews.

In August, rumors began to circulate that Ubisoft was planning to shut down the game following layoffs at its San Francisco office – where the majority of XDefiant developers worked. Unfortunately, that has now been confirmed with an official announcement from Ubisoft that cites XDefiant’s free-to-play monetization structure as the primary cause.

In an email obtained by IGN, Ubisoft chief studios and portfolio officer Marie-Sophie de Waubert broke the news to employees and revealed the studio closures, which will impact up to 177 developers.

“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,” said Waubert. “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.”

Despite this devastating news, Waubert told employees “developing Games-as-a-Service experiences remains a pillar of our strategy,” and cited success including “Rainbow Six, The Crew, and For Honor.” Waubert also said to employees that Ubisoft is “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 story is developing…