Why Did XDefiant Fail? Executive Producer Blames Engine For Its Collapse

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Another day goes by, another live service game fades away. Ubisoft’s XDefiant displayed glimpses of greatness since its launch a year ago, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy its corporate parent. In December 2024, Ubisoft withdrew the game from all marketplaces, offered refunds for in-game purchases, and announced that XDefiant would be shut down in June.

The key figure behind the rise and decline of XDefiant was none other than Mark Rubin, who served as its executive producer. Known for his impressive work in the gaming industry, he held the position of executive producer for Infinity Ward from 2005 to 2015, during which time many consider it the golden age of Call of Duty.

Following six years with Ubisoft, Rubin recently disclosed his decision to depart not only from the company, but also from the gaming industry entirely. This news was shared towards the conclusion of a post discussing the challenges that XDefiant encountered from its debut until its shutdown.

Why Did XDefiant Fail?

Examining the decline of a game can be similar to thoroughly cleaning a room or participating in an urban conflict—it’s crucial to approach it systematically, starting from the top and moving downwards.

Initially, XDefiant seemed like a game with great untapped possibilities. Critic Cass Marshall from Polygon compared it to “Tom Clancy’s Smash Bros.”, but felt it was missing the element that ignites true passion or excitement. Despite this, it managed to find initial success.

Even with a small marketing budget, Rubin claims that the game surpassed Ubisoft’s records for player acquisition within the initial few weeks. Unfortunately, XDefiant didn’t take full advantage of this organic early lead.

Following our game’s launch, there was minimal marketing effort, resulting in a slow growth of new players beyond the initial wave. – Mark Rubin, XDefiant Executive Producer

Despite any amount of marketing efforts, the fundamental technical problems embedded within XDefiant remain unresolved. This game operates on Ubisoft’s Snowdrop engine, initially introduced for The Division and subsequently utilized in Star Wars: Outlaws.

According to Rubin, the game was hindered by a heavy technical burden due to using an engine not ideally suited for our tasks, and unfortunately, we lacked the engineering team required to rectify this issue.

As a result of this issue, we encountered a significant network coding problem that our development team found challenging to resolve due to the infrastructure we were managing. This predicament led to substantial instability for players when using any internet connection apart from a highly stable, rapid one.

Similarly to the engine selection, the business model of XDefiant didn’t align with the team’s available resources and overall vision. This live-service, free-to-play model requires a continuous flow of high-quality and abundant content to maintain player engagement.

According to Rubin, even though the team behind XDefiant seemed genuinely dedicated, they lacked the necessary sustaining power to make a free-to-play game successful.

In the upcoming seasons, perhaps 4 or 5, there are some fantastic additional elements planned which, in my opinion, would have made the game perfect at its launch.

Last year, the entire XDefiant team either lost their jobs or were moved elsewhere, and it appears that Mark Rubin is no longer working within the gaming industry.

As a devoted admirer, I find myself reflecting on the departure of a seasoned executive producer from Ubisoft. He’s chosen to step away from the gaming industry, devoting himself wholeheartedly to spending more quality time with his beloved family. This marks the close of an epoch.

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2025-06-05 18:18