The report indicates Ubisoft ultimately pivoted away from that Splinter Cell concept to chase the multiplayer market, a route that reportedly evolved into xDefiant. xDefiant spent a long time in playtests, launched in 2024, and then closed not long after its release.
“Those first months were exciting because we believed we were building something special,” Herman tells Bloomberg. “Then you realize the priorities have changed and the things you care about no longer matter — it’s an all-too-common story in the industry.”
Herman, Lenart, and Shorette left Ubisoft in 2018 and, together with fellow Telltale alum Michael Choung, founded AdHoc. With Dispatch selling one million copies in its first ten days, AdHoc has shown there remains a sizable audience willing to buy a premium single-player game. By contrast, xDefiant reportedly reached over 15 million players before its closure.
Source: gamesradar.com
