US EditionWhy Did XDefiant Fail? Game Director Weighs In As He Quits Gaming Industry
- Ubisoft released XDefiant, a live service shooter led by Mark Rubin, in May 2024 before shutting it down in June 2025.
- The project faced challenges including limited marketing, use of an ill-suited in-house engine, and early wind-down announcements in December 2024.
- XDefiant initially gained strong player acquisition through word-of-mouth and peaked in Twitch streams, but persistent netcode issues and lack of content hurt its longevity.
- Mark Rubin, a former Call of Duty producer, described the game as fun but noted it suffered from "tech debt" and said, "we had very little marketing," reflecting its uphill battle.
- Rubin announced his retirement to spend time with family, expressing hope others will create shooter games that truly respect and listen to players.
22 Articles
22 Articles
XDefiant Chief Quits Industry Entirely, Claims Ubisoft's Doomed Call of Duty Rival Had 'Very Little Marketing' or 'The Right Resources to Make Content'
XDefiant's servers went dark on Tuesday, June 3, a little over a year after Ubisoft's free-to-play arena shooter was released. Ubisoft gave its Call of duty rival just four months before confirming it would discontinue support. Almost half the team lost their jobs as Ubisoft made a swath of cuts across its San Francisco and Osaka studios.Producer Mark Rubin, who led development fo the game having previously worked on the Call of Duty series at A…
XDefiant: Its Producer Has Left Not Only Ubisoft, But the Entire Gaming Industry!
Mark Rubin, producer of Ubisoft’s now-defunct live service shooter, is stepping away not just from the project—but from the entire games industry. Rubin previously worked on the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare titles and their remasters before leaving Infinity Ward to lead the development of XDefiant. With the project now officially shelved, Rubin has also exited Ubisoft, announcing that he’s retiring from the industry altogether. The an…
XDefiant officially goes dark as its former executive producer leaves Ubisoft
Def Leppard once sang that it’s better to burn out than to fade away, but in the case of video games – and especially their developers – that’s really not the best case scenario. Unfortunately burning out was the case for XDefiant, the Ubisoft shooter that announced its shutdown in 2024, has now officially gone […]
After hiring XDefiant, Executive Producer Mark Rubin leaves Ubisoft and turns his back on the gaming industry.
NewsGaming.net XDefiant's producer returns to everything that wasn't going, especially at Ubisoft, and announces his departure from the industry The failure of free-to-play XDefiant put a big blow to Ubisoft's finances, which had decided not to need it at this time more than difficult. The online shooter had nevertheless started strong, but the post-launching follow-up has been much described by the gaming community, which has put the veils over…
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