Ubisoft to close XDefiant, lay off nearly 300 staff
pcgamesinsider.bizFrench publishing giant Ubisoft is closing down its free-to-play shooter XDefiant.
In a blog post, chief studios and portfolio officer Marie-Sophie de Waubert said that the game hadn't been able to bring in and retain enough players to sustain the game. Nearly 300 members of staff are impacted by this news; 143 workers in San Francisco and another 134 employees in Ubisoft's Osaka and Sydney offices.
"To those team members leaving Ubisoft, I want to express my deepest gratitude for your work and contributions. Please know that we are committed to supporting you during this transition," she wrote.
"Developing games-as-a-service experiences remains a pillar of our strategy, and we’ve achieved significant successes, like Rainbow Six, The Crew, and For Honor, among others. It’s a highly competitive market, and we will apply the lessons learned with XDefiant to our future live titles.
"Globally, we are determined to take the necessary steps to put the company back on a path to growth, innovation and creativity and make sure we can set you up for success. This means continuing to radically evolve our mindset for Production and Business practices, which we will share more about soon, and doing targeted restructuring when necessary. I know that the situation brings questions and expectations, and we will share regular and transparent updates.
"My sincere thanks for your continued dedication as we navigate these trying times together."
This follows Ubisoft insisting in October that XDefiant would not be closing down in the near future.
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