Ubisoft To Disable ‘Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad’ Servers Just One Year After Release

Ubisoft recently announced the impending shutdown of Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad. The mobile action-roleplaying game was first released in August of 2020.

“It is with a great deal of sadness that we are announcing we will no longer be releasing new content for Elite Squad. Today’s update will be our last, and on October 4th, 2021 we will shut the servers down,” reads a July 22 blog post by the game’s development team. “This was not an easy decision, but after exploring multiple options with our teams, we came to the conclusion that it was no longer sustainable. We want to assure you all that we really gave it our best, especially with big updates like Season 2, and it was a truly rewarding experience to work with you, our passionate community!”

The game was developed by Owlient, a Paris-based Ubisoft studio. This studio was notably co-led by Charlie Guillemont, the son of Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemont. Guillemont Jr left Owlient in May of 2021.

Elite Squad featured characters from several Tom Clancy titles such as Montagne and Caveira from Rainbow Six and Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell. Characters from Endwar, The Division and Ghost Recon were also present. The game used a graphical style that was undeniably similar to Epic Game’s Fortnite. 

Elite Squad was the subject of controversy shortly after it launched in August. Fans were up in arms after the use of a black raised fist in an intro video for the title. This fist was used to represent an evil organization that aims to build a new world order. This caused tension as the fist was strikingly similar to the symbol used by the Black Lives Matter movement. Ubisoft promptly issued an apology and removed the fist from the game.

Ubisoft also announced Xdefiant on July 19, which will be a 6v6 free-to-play shooter. The game will feature characters from many Tom Clancy properties in a similar vein to Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad.