August 30th 2024.
It seems like the popular Ubisoft shooter, XDefiant, is struggling to maintain its player base. There are talks of potential layoffs at the company due to the significant decline in player numbers. While many live service games can have a successful start, their future depends on consistent and profitable numbers to sustain them.
There have been many examples of games experiencing a sudden rise and fall, such as the MultiVersus beta and the significant decrease in player numbers for Palworld. Even Helldivers 2, which launched just six months ago, has seen a decrease in players from 458,000 to 21,000 on Steam.
It appears that Ubisoft is at a crossroads with XDefiant, and if the game's player numbers don't improve, the company may cut its support. According to sources, Ubisoft is expecting a boost in player count by season three, or they may discontinue the game. Currently, the game is in its first season, with the second season set to begin on September 24th.
Upon its launch in May on PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC, XDefiant seemed to be a successful title for Ubisoft. The CEO, Yves Guillemot, even stated that the game had attracted 11 million players within its first month, and it was described as having an "encouraging start" in the company's recent financial report.
However, according to Insider Gaming, XDefiant has been struggling to maintain 20,000 concurrent players across all platforms, according to a source at Ubisoft. Another source claims that the company would be happy with even lower numbers, suggesting that the player count may be even lower than reported. As the game is not available on Steam, there is no way to verify these numbers independently, but releasing the game on Steam could potentially increase its popularity.
Due to the declining player numbers and lack of spending from players, there are rumors of more layoffs at the studio within the next six months. Earlier this month, Ubisoft had to lay off 45 staff at Ubisoft San Francisco and Red Storm Entertainment, the team behind the cancelled live service game, The Division Heartland.
There is said to be frustration within the studio's leadership, as they are allegedly not taking responsibility for XDefiant's shortcomings. This is similar to what happened with Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, where Ubisoft was able to turn around poor player numbers in the shooter genre. However, XDefiant may prove to be a tougher case as it is a new IP and acts as a crossover for characters from other Ubisoft titles like Watch Dogs and Splinter Cell.
It remains to be seen if XDefiant can withstand the competition, especially with the upcoming release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 later this year. It seems like XDefiant is on borrowed time, and the game's future may be uncertain. If you want to stay updated on all the latest gaming news, you can sign up for our newsletter, follow us on Twitter, and leave a comment below. Also, to submit any letters or features, you can use our Submit Stuff page.
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