Ubisoft’s XDefiant Reaches 1 Million Players in Record Time

XDefiant’s swift rise highlights its immediate popularity

Ubisoft’s new free-to-play title, XDefiant, has taken the gaming world by storm, achieving 1 million unique players within just two and a half hours of its launch. According to Insider Gaming, the game saw a peak of half a million concurrent players on launch day. Although server issues initially plagued the game, causing many players to wait in the menu, these problems were resolved within eight to ten hours post-launch.

This rapid surge in players makes XDefiant Ubisoft’s fastest-ever game to reach 1 million unique players. The momentum continued beyond launch day; 48 hours after release, the game boasted over 3 million unique players and maintained around 300,000 concurrent players across all platforms.

For context, Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends, another free-to-play shooter, reached 1 million unique players in eight hours and 2.5 million within 24 hours of its 2019 release. XDefiant’s swift rise highlights its immediate popularity, but its long-term success will hinge on revenue generated from its Battle Pass and in-game cosmetics.

The Battle Pass is competitively priced, but in-game cosmetic items have been criticized for their high costs. For instance, the ‘Phantoms Prototype’ bundle costs 2900 X coins, equating to about $30 for four items. Despite these concerns, Ubisoft remains optimistic, with the game already on track to surpass internal milestones in player numbers. The real test will be whether XDefiant can retain its player base and convert engagement into revenue.