The closure of servers for online games that haven’t even been out for 2-3 years, the delay of announced games for 2-3 years, unkept promises, or only investing in certain titles — all this has led Ubisoft to be listed among the developers with a growing negative reputation in the gaming industry. The French company has now made an interesting announcement regarding one of its troubled games.
Ubisoft: “XDefiant Won’t Shut Down!”
Ubisoft’s free-to-play title, XDefiant, which was developed as a competitor to Call of Duty, has recently been the subject of important announcements about its future. The game’s lead developer Mark Rubin, made a statement on social media, officially denying rumors that the game would be shut down after its fourth season.
Rubin said, “Last week, we were in meetings discussing our plans for the next two years. Right now, we are focused on improving the technical experience (including network infrastructure) and adding more content for seasons three and four.”
Acknowledging the drop in player count, Rubin claimed this was part of a deliberate strategy. “We did very little marketing, so our numbers are low, but that was to give the team time to bring the game to a better state. We want to improve the game before we make larger marketing investments to attract new players and bring back those who left.”
Amidst all these developments, Ubisoft has decided to stop offering exclusive PC game releases through the Epic Games Store, and instead release them on Steam from day one. Although XDefiant’s Steam version has yet to be announced, it is expected to arrive on the platform soon.
We’ll see if the game’s future turns out bright. To be honest, things aren’t looking great, and although Ubisoft doesn’t seem panicked, the situation could change quickly.