XDefiant Risks Losing Support if Season 3 Player Count Doesn’t Increase

The release of XDefiant witnessed remarkable player numbers. The Free-to-play shooter game managed to attract over 1 million players within the initial few hours of its launch. The enthusiasm from Ubisoft was at its peak, projecting the game as the next significant multiplayer shooter. Furthermore, the company also gave some credit for their first-quarter success to this newly launched game. Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, conveyed their expectations for the game to surpass the 11 million player count due to enhancements made in Season 1 and his aspirations for XDefiant becoming a “serious esports.”

Alas, the tables seem to have turned after just a couple of months.

In a recent update from Tom Henderson via Insider Gaming, he mentions that the team behind XDefaint at Ubisoft San Fran has expressed dissatisfaction regarding the leadership’s lack of accountability for the downward trend in player counts. According to an inside source, Ubisoft would be content with a player base of 20,000 across all platforms, hints at the fact that they are yet to reach that mark and the spending of existing players is decreasing.

As per Henderson’s report, if the player counts do not rise by the commencement of Season 3, the game might face the risk of losing support, a significant threat for live-service games that need post-launch upkeep to retain its player base. The same source has predicted potential layoff headlines from Ubisoft San Fran in the upcoming half-year.

Henderson also refers to the unresolved culture issues within Ubisoft, seemingly brushed under the carpet.

Given that Season 3 of XDefiant will release post the introduction of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, elevating the player counts could turn out to be a challenging task for the team, even under ideal situations.