XDefiant is ‘struggling’ claims source as player numbers reportedly plummet-Adam Starkey-Entertainment – Metro

XDefiant might not hold out for much longer (Ubisoft)

Ubisoft shooter XDefiant might result in more layoffs at the company, as sources claim that player numbers are in significant decline.

While many live service games can have huge success at the outset, their future depends on consistent, profitable numbers in order to keep them going.

There’s been many examples of this sharp rise and fall, like the MultiVersus beta and the gulf in numbers from Palworld’s launch to now. Even just six months after launch, player numbers for Helldivers 2 have dropped from 458,000 to just over 21,000 on Steam.

It also seems Ubisoft might be at a significant crossroads with its shooter XDefiant, with claims its support could be cut if developer Ubisoft San Francisco doesn’t improve the game’s player numbers soon.

According to sources at the company, Ubisoft wants XDefiant’s player count to increase by season three, or it could face losing post-launch support. The shooter is currently in its first season, with season two set to kick off on September 24.

Following its launch in May across PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC, XDefiant appeared to be a success for Ubisoft. The company’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, claimed XDefiant had attracted 11 million players within its first month, while it was described as having an ‘encouraging start’ in Ubisoft’s recent financial report.

According to Insider Gaming though, XDefiant has since been ‘struggling to obtain 20,000 concurrent players across all its platforms,’ per a Ubisoft source, while another states that the company ‘would probably be happy with that number’, suggesting it is even lower than that.

Because XDefiant isn’t on Steam there’s no way to independently verify any numbers, although putting the game on Steam could be one way to try and improve its popularity.

As a result of these declining numbers, and a lack of player spending, more layoffs are expected at the studio ‘within six months’. Earlier this month, Ubisoft cut 45 staff across Ubisoft San Francisco and Red Storm Entertainment – the team who were working on the now-cancelled The Division Heartland live service game.

It’s claimed there is frustration within Ubisoft San Francisco over the studio’s leadership, who have ‘refused to take responsibility’ for XDefiant’s shortcomings, according to the report.

As shown with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft has a track record of turning around poor player numbers in the shooter space. XDefiant, however, might be a trickier case as it is a new IP, which acts as a crossover for Ubisoft characters from titles such as Watch Dogs and Splinter Cell.

Whether XDefiant can endure remains to be seen but it’s set to face stacked competition later this year, with the launch of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6.

XDefiant is on borrowed time, apparently (Ubisoft)

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