Xdefiant is shutting down. Thoughts?

Hassan

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So, I've played a fair bit of Xdefiant, and I recently saw a post on X by Mark Rubin, the Executive Producer of Xdefiant, stating how they're shutting down the servers by June 2, 2025. Despite its flaws, the game had so much potential, and I've personally been saddened to hear of this news. Also, I feel bad for the devs, as the game looked like it had passionate individuals running it in the backend.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1864090964748321266

I kind of saw the decline in the game due to poor marketing and management, but I never saw a complete shutdown coming. The reason I say I saw the decline is due to exceptionally long matchmaking times.

I was wondering if any of you got to play the game and what your experience was like.
 
I played it for a bit. The launch had issues and them going with IP characters was not a good idea IMO. They also lacked game modes that people wanted, like standard TDM and allowing people to pick which game modes they wanted to play. The maps were great and the spawning was WAY better than COD. I think it was a good concept overall but like many others said, it got stale too fast.
 
I knew it was going to get shutdown long before this. There were rumors and talk of it. They were not making enough revenue to keep it going. This is the problem with free games. If they have a bad launch and a fanbase that eventually moves on, they will die within the first year. I am shocked they will be able to stretch it to June.
 
There were rumors about it shutting down, yeah. I didn't know when it would happen but I figured it would be at some point. It is a shame cause this really had the making of being an amazing online free-to-play game. I preferred it over Call of Duty's last few releases but they didn't have enough options in terms of game play in the game.
 
It is sad to see something with so much promise fall flat. I had fund with this game for a few months but the micro-transaction stuff and lack of game options and variety made it boring after a bit which sucks. Had it had a better launch and more going for it, I think people would have been buying and investing in it. They needed to mirror Apex's success.
 
LaughingSheep34 said:
This is an ubisoft game, right? I am not shocked at all by this if so. They have been bleeding money and lost 90% of the total market value in the last 2 years. I don't know who runs that company but they can't be that bright.
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Yeah it was developed and published by them. I am guessing it made some money though but not enough to keep it going. People don't realize how expensive online gaming is.
 
MeteorMuffin23 said:
Yeah it was developed and published by them. I am guessing it made some money though but not enough to keep it going. People don't realize how expensive online gaming is.
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I am aware. I think people are being made more aware now than they were but certainly more light needs to be shed on it. People think these companies are being greedy non-stop and to be fair, many of them are but they need to reach certain market caps and revenue or the game will just end up costing them money.
 
NeonNarwhal29 said:
I think if they had better funding and time management as well as just added more game modes, the game would have done fine and likely been a competitor to other FPS online games.
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For sure. I agree with the management bit. There was a lot of miscommunication early on, if I remember correctly, and that is something free-to-play games CANNOT afford. Because the first impression is the last impression, and they had a lot of bugs and net code issues that were fixed but quite late into the game's release.
 
randomguy123 said:
They should have pushed it back. I know they pushed it back a few times but it would have been better to be even more late than to start off so poorly. I been playing since the first month it released. I play it with some friends at least once a week. Shame to see it coming to an end this year.
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I agree. I think it was the pressure from the community just to release it. I remember Mark Rubin trying to push it further, but the community didn't take it well. Let it be a lesson for those who advocate for the games to be released ASAP. I would understand if there were some minor bugs, but if there are major issues, such as net code, which is a core thing in FPS games due to hit registration, it is best to get that sorted out before getting the game out to the public. The game had a lot of potential too!
 
Ghost_218 said:
Kind of sad tbh. Like this game had so much potential but was so poorly managed that it tanked. It sucks. Like I wanted this it be a replacement for CoD for me.
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I agree! While I initially enjoyed CoD Black Ops 6 Zombies, it's become increasingly plagued with bugs as the game has aged. I've managed to complete the zombies easter eggs, but there have been several instances where I was literally soft-locked out of the boss fight, even mid-fight. It's frustrating because reaching the boss fight can take anywhere from 50 minutes to an hour, and encountering a bug that locks you out is incredibly annoying!
 
EliteGamer said:
Is there no way for them to turn this around? Like I know they have to be making money for it to continue and announcing the shut-down means people are even less inclined to pay for stuff.
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I don't think they can save it, cause like you said, they need income to keep it going and people are going to be inclined to not provide it. I mean the only option they have is to really polish it, add new game play modes, and then make it into a pay to play game. Maybe charge people $40 for it or something. They would have to really sell it though and get people hyped to pay for it. I just don't see them coming back.
 
EliteGamer said:
Is there no way for them to turn this around? Like I know they have to be making money for it to continue and announcing the shut-down means people are even less inclined to pay for stuff.
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MAYBE early on, but unfortunately, at this stage, I personally don't think there's a way for them to come back unless they get some miracle funding to back them up!
 
TurboToucan50 said:
Can't we just convince someone like Elon to fund it? LOL Like come on, someone convince him to play it and then maybe he will throw money at the game 🤣
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He has been convinced to throw money at dumber things, that is for sure. 😆

In this day and age though, if you want to run a free to play online game it needs to have a solid start and the first 3 months are SUPER important. If you fail in those three first months, it is doomed. Sometimes you can tell a game has failed within the first month.
 
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