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After denying claims of the game shutting down, Ubisoft officially announced that XDefiant is shutting its doors following plummeting player counts and fundamental flaws driving fans away from the virtual battlefield. Despite this, fans still have plenty of time to load into the action one last time.
Ubisoft’s free-to-play arena shooter started on the front foot but quickly fell by the wayside as fans flocked to Call Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and more recently, Black Ops 6. In one final effort to stop the game from disappearing altogether, one fan has launched a petition pleading with the developers to keep it running.
Save XDefiant petition gains traction
Shortly after Ubisoft announced XDefiant’s closure, fan Nyte Falll created a petition with the aim of keeping the game alive. The petition reads: “We are calling for support to save XDefiant, a cherished digital platform, from getting suspended indefinitely. It’s not merely a source of entertainment, For many, it’s a medium to interact, make friends, and create memories.”
At the time of writing (December 4, 2024), the petition has a total of 201 signatures as fans continue rallying around the initiative to get Ubisoft to reconsider its decision. With signatures continuing to rise, we’ll have to wait and see if it’s enough to get the developer to keep the servers live longer than their June 2025 shutdown date.
Alongside XDefiant’s closure, Ubisoft has laid off 277 staff with the closures of its San Fransisco and Osaka studios, bringing a turbulent 2024 to a close. As well as XDefiant’s flop, the developer delayed the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows along with cancelling The Division: Heartland, another free-to-play shooter.
Will the petition work?
Although the number of signatures on the petition continues to climb, the likelihood of it stopping Ubisoft from closing XDefiant is slim. While it may not manage to keep the shooter alive, it shows how many players enjoyed what the developer created thanks to its old-school mechanics and the lack of skill-based matchmaking creating varied matches.
XDefiant attempted to compete with Call of Duty which is more than most shooters have managed to do in recent years. With a new Battlefield on the way, is there any franchise that’s capable of matching Activision’s powerhouse?
About the Author
XDefiant
- Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s): First-Person Shooter, Multiplayer, Shooter
