XDefiant Executive Producer Addresses Hopes For A Return Of The Game

• Ubisoft shuttered servers in June 2025

• Mark Rubin was asked about a potential revival of the game

• Ubisoft's financial concerns leads to a less than likely scenario

The once hyped free-to-play first person shooter that was built to be an alternative to the juggernaut of multiplayer FPSes Call of Duty has been decommissioned for almost a calendar year, as of this writing. While its launch saw adequate appeal, player count quickly dropped off, as poor optimization, extras, and thin string of content led to it becoming a financial sinkhole for Ubisoft. Mark Rubin left the company after the game was shut down. Nearly twelve months removed, some who enjoyed it certainly miss their experience.

Reported by Insider Gaming, Mark Rubin was asked by social media user ChaddieLaddie on Twitter/X about the team-based shooter:

Is there ANY hope of XDefiant servers being brought back up? I understand the cost of running them, but the game is sooooooo missed

"I miss it too!" Rubin replies. "That would be up to Ubisoft I imagine they could if they wanted to but I think they have a lot going on right now staying afloat."

Despite Ubisoft's focus to land that knockout app did not come to fruition with XDefiant. Nor did matters change with Skull And Bones. For a game with an estimated budget of $700 million, the "AAAA" game barely logged 1 million players following its launch. Even Assassin's Creed: Shadows, which has some rather checkered tracking with its sales and appeal, saw it doing fairly decent, but inconclusive data suggests it underperformed.

The financial woes will always continue to haunt Ubisoft, as they are among the major game development companies that have seen mass layoffs and a cancellation of a large number of projects. It would be genuinely surprising to see a change of heart in their leadership to try and relaunch XDefiant. We are in an age where software like Namco Bandai's MMORPG Blue Protocol was initially shut down in January 2025, before launching under its new name, Blue Protocol: Star Resonance, later that October.

SOURCES: Insider Gaming, Twitter/X