XDefiant may have launched exactly 100 days ago, on May 21, but it's already reportedly at the risk of being shut down. That's unless its internal metrics, including player concurrents, don't shape up.

Information about XDefiant's internal struggles comes by way of reliable insider Tom Henderson. In an exclusive report for Insider Gaming, Ubisoft San Francisco, the internal studio behind the free-to-play first-person shooter, has until the end of Season 3 to improve things.

If player numbers don't increase, then the game is at risk of losing support, per Henderson. According to the article, the game is struggling to draw in 20,000 concurrent players across all platforms, though, that number may be much lower, per a separate source.

Those dwindling numbers, coupled with an overall lack of player spending, has members of the San Francisco team reportedly feeling immense pressure. The game is currently in the midst of its Season 1 support, with Season 2 set for a launch on September 24.

As Henderson noted, the make-or-break Season 3 will launch well after Black Ops 6 does. This is also the first year that a Call of Duty title will be appearing on Game Pass day-and-date, so the stakes could not be higher. Per an Ubisoft roadmap, XDefiant's "Year 1" roadmap included four seasons, though there's a possibility that the game won't see beyond its third season.



The decline in player counts for XDefiant has been nothing short of drastic. Whereas a game like Concord failed to reach 1,000 players on Steam at launch, XDefiant experienced massive success. In the past, Henderson reported that the game hit over 1.5 million players in its first few hours of launch.

Then, the game reportedly achieved eight million unique players in its first week of availability, potentially signaling a bright future for the game. However, fans have since left in droves, owing to various issues, including lack of content and Netcode, among other concerns.

Of course, it doesn't help that the game's executive producer infamously told players in July that they could "move on," if they hated the game that much. Though that statement seems to be the least of the game's problems at the moment. Either way, Henderson's report paints a bleak picture for yet another live-service endeavor by a major gaming corporation.

Posted: Sep 03, 2024 11:36 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.thegamer.com/xdefiant-reportedly-has-timeline-to-improve-numbers-ubisoft-live-service-shooter/