It is the end of the road for yet another live service. This time, troubled game publisher Ubisoft announced that its competitive free-to-play shooter XDefiant will shut down after just six months. The decision to pull the plug will have impacts far beyond the game’s diminishing player base, as Ubisoft will shutting down both its Osaka and San Francisco offices, resulting in 277 layoffs.
While the devastating announcement felt inevitable in the face of stiff competition, a core part of XDefiant’s identify feels like untapped potential. And it’s a crying shame that its ideas and the talented people behind the very competent online shooter are now going away forever.
