XDefiant, after being delayed for months and then releasing without much fan-fare, has (predictably) begun to die. This has now been officially confirmed by Ubisoft, who partly blame the game for their current crisis.
Ubisoft is in dire straits, with the current stock price at the lowest it's been since 2015, an underwhelming launch for Star Wars: Outlaws, and AC Shadows delayed to 2025. And now, as if it couldn't get worse, the CEO has had to admit to investors that XDefiant is failing.
Ubisoft CEO confirms poor performance of XDefiant and Star Wars: Outlaws
In a Trading Call Update earlier this week, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that, alongside the poor sales of Star Wars: Outlaws, XDefiant had fallen "behind expectations" and contributed to a poor financial quarter. Sadly predictable.
In response to a question about Q2 underperformance, he said:
It mostly reflects the softer-than-expected sales for Star Wars Outlaws. We also had behind expectations for XDefiant, which we will give you a bit more detail on at the end of October.
We await those further details eagerly.
Later in the call, Guillemot announced that the company were launching an investigation into their recent struggles, in an effort to quell the worries of investors:
...the Executive Committee, under the supervision of the Board of Directors, is launching a review aimed at further improving our execution, notably in this player-centric approach, and accelerating our strategic path towards a higher performing model to the benefit of our stakeholders and shareholders.
Will the results of this review actually have an impact on decision-making at Ubisoft? One can only hope, for their sake.
What do you think needs to change at Ubisoft? Are they investing in the wrong projects, hiring the wrong creatives, or is this, perhaps, a branding problem?