XDefiant PS5 PlayStation

Ubisoft's free-to-play shooter XDefiant is not dead, and you shouldn't think it is. That's despite persistent rumours of a worryingly small pool of players and CEO Yves Guillemot himself admitting to investors that it had underperformed "to a much lesser extent [than Star Wars Outlaws]", which probably sounds better in context.

Remaining defiant (sorry), XDefiant producer Mark Rubin has hit back at the naysayers, stating there is virtually nil danger of the game dying in the foreseeable future. On X, Rubin wrote: "To be crystal clear, there are NO plans to shut down after season 4. I've literally been in meetings as of last week to discuss our Year 2 plans."

Expounding, Rubin admitted that "we have done very little marketing, so yes, our numbers are down" but maintains that this is all going according to plan. Once the game is in a better place (still not reassured), Rubin explains that "[we'll] do bigger spends on marketing to bring new players to the game and to bring back players that have left". See? Not dead.

Does a game seem more or less alive when the developers insist it isn't dead? As Ubisoft opted not to release on the most popular PC platform, Steam, we can't even use our usual tricks to check for a pulse. Just anecdotally, are you or your friends currently playing XDefiant? Let us know how healthy the game is in the comments section below.

[source x.com]