Ubisoft is having problems with its last big free game and is obviously ready to make a very radical decision. The news is obviously not very good…
Clearly, Ubisoft isn’t really having much luck with its games. The company has been in a bit of a mess for quite some time. Internal problems, games canceled, postponed or put into an induced coma (hello Beyond Good & Evil 2, which we haven’t seen in so long). Even some of the publisher’s recent releases haven’t gone smoothly. If Star Wars Outlaws is an excellent surprise, Skull and Bones, a long-time Arlesian, didn’t really shine. When XDefiant’s first tests drove gamers crazy, it was lame… until now.
Ubisoft’s latest free game is in the sauce
New drawback: Ubisoft’s free-to-play game is losing its players at a high rate, although it was well received at its release, the game that was presented as a real Call of Duty killer is losing speed a lot, according to Tom Henderson, who has obtained some information from sources close to Ubisoft. According to Henderson, the game is unlikely to have 20,000 active players on its servers, which is far below target. Therefore, Ubisoft would obviously be willing to drop the matter. His sources have told him that if Ubi San Francisco is unable to attract more players with the upcoming third season, support would be discontinued. In other words, XDefiant could well be in the hot seat.
XDefiant soon dead and buried?
As the informant recalls, not long ago Ubisoft had already laid off several dozen people associated with the studios. According to Henderson’s sources, the stress is still palpable in the corridors, with some believing that other heads may soon roll. We’re not there yet, but the fact is that things don’t smell particularly good for XDefiant. If Activision’s license were to be revoked, Call of Duty Black Ops 6 risks hurting Ubisoft’s free-to-play FPS. The giant and undisputed king of FPS is coming in a few weeks while Season 2 of Ubi’s shooter is in full swing, which is pretty bad timing. It now remains to be seen to what extent the release of the juggernaut now available in the Xbox stable will affect XDefiant’s successor, and whether Ubisoft will make the radical decision to cut the cost of the game.
As a reminder, XDefiant is a completely free game available on PS5, Xbox Series and PC, but also on PS4 and Xbox One.
