XDefiant’s final hours have arrived, and I’m sad to see Ubisoft’s FPS go

XDefiant was a game that always had the odds stacked against it, despite the wealth of FPS experience on its development team and major IP like Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed it could lean on. Ubisoft was already on a run of putting out underperforming games. The general live service space is a brutal, unforgiving one. The demand for new, fresh content is painfully high. And then it had to face off against one of the best annual Call of Duty launches we’ve seen in years with Black Ops 6. When you lay everything out in such a way, a rapid shutdown – which arrives this week just over a year after launching – always seemed highly likely. Inevitable, to some. But that doesn’t mean it was a bad FPS game by any stretch. While not perfect, I’ll remember XDefiant as a game that provided me with a few months of fun and a welcome reminder of the glory days of Call of Duty.

While I’m properly satisfied with Black Ops 6 right now, CoD had been something of a dull, uninspiring streak in the years prior. That’s my opinion, anyway. Modern Warfare 2, leading straight into a somewhat improved but still samey Modern Warfare 3, had me yearning for the golden era of the series. XDefiant was pitching itself as just that. Smaller and more traditional three-lane maps, slick gunplay, a refined loadout system, and some class-based abilities to master. Lovely.

After some disappointing (and rather bizarre) setbacks in trying to get XDefiant out the door, the FPS game finally dropped in May last year, right when Modern Warfare 3 was really fizzling out. Even though it was suffering from some issues – the most notable being its dodgy hit registration – I was immediately gripped and enjoying the shooter that many had already written off.

Season 1 was a blast, despite the technical gremlins. I knew that the hours I was sinking into it wouldn’t sustain, especially not with a new CoD on the horizon and other shooters like Destiny 2, Apex Legends, and The Finals all flailing their hands in the air, trying to regain my attention. But I could certainly see it entering my rotation of multiplayer titles going forward.

Alas, things quickly started to unravel towards the end of 2024. With Black Ops 6 breathing some new life into CoD and XDefiant still carrying some unresolved issues, players (myself included) began to drift away. The pressure was mounting on the team behind the game considerably, with reports in October (just after the launch of Season 2) claiming that XDefiant had just two seasons to show some progress and upwards momentum or face being canned. In reality, it got even less than that.

In December, Ubisoft confirmed that it would be sunsetting XDefiant. On the same day as the announcement, it stripped the game from storefronts. However, anyone that had already downloaded it would get another six months to play its third and final season – which was, in effect, a massive content dump of everything that was waiting in the wings for future seasons.

Knowing that today, June 2, would be the final full day of XDefiant before the plug is pulled at some point on June 3, I hopped on for a few final games ahead of this writeup. I expected to feel a pang of nostalgia, but to also acknowledge that its time has come. To be honest, I just felt sad. Despite having not played for months, I immediately settled back into XDefiant’s rhythm, such is its approachability compared to other FPS games. It felt smooth. It felt satisfying. It felt… bright, despite the impending darkness. Full of energy, even though it was hours from death.

With no player stats on hand, I can’t speak to whether there’s been a massive uplift in players returning, like myself, to give XDefiant a final send off. But all I can say is that it didn’t take me long at all to find matches, and I’m seeing lots of farewell posts online. For many, XDefiant will be another memed ‘Ubisoft flop,’ and I can understand why you might take that stance. However, despite its flaws, it did a lot of things right, and it deserved a longer run than it got. For me, it’s a game that was never going to ‘kill’ Call of Duty and its fellow FPS rivals, but it certainly taught them some valuable lessons when it came to not taking itself too seriously and drawing on the past in the right way.

So, that’s the end of the line for XDefiant. You’ll be missed, old chum. Well, young chum, in truth. Whether you were an XDefiant enjoy or not, there are at least plenty of other free PC games and competitive multiplayer games to turn to instead.

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