Ubisoft has announced the closure of its free-to-play first-person shooter game XDefiant, along with the shutdown of its San Francisco and Osaka studios. The decision was made due to the game’s struggles to retain a player base and achieve success in the competitive gaming market.
The closure will affect 143 employees at the San Francisco studio, where much of the game’s development took place, as well as an additional 134 layoffs at Ubisoft’s studios in Osaka and Sydney. Despite this, the company plans to continue supporting XDefiant with its Season 3 launch, but servers will be shut down by June 3.
Ubisoft’s chief studios and portfolio officer Marie-Sophie de Waubert attributed the decision to the highly competitive gaming market, stating that the lessons learned from XDefiant will be applied to future live titles. The company has announced plans to focus on its more successful titles, such as Rainbow Six Siege and The Crew.
This closure marks another setback for the Bay Area’s gaming industry, which has faced challenges in recent months, with Unity Software, EA, and Sony laying off employees in video game development.
Source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/ubisoft-xdefiant-shutdown-san-francisco-19958138.php