Ubisoft's mobile game Tom Clancy's Elite Squad is shutting down after a single year

Tom Clancy's Elite Squad is going dark in just a few short months. A blog post from the Ubisoft team behind the game has announced that Elite Squad is going offline on October 4, and that the content update it received today will be its last-ever update.

The reason, the post explains, is the same unfortunate situation many live and free-to-play games fear: Elite Squad simply isn't a sustainable project at this point in its lifespan.

"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," explains the post. 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!"

October will now mark the end of Elite Squad's rather short story. The game's development was led by Ubisoft's Owlient Studio which, up until just recently, was headed up in part by Charlie Guillemot, the son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. The younger Guillemot departed both the project and the company earlier this year to "pursue new opportunities."

The free-to-play game first launched in August 2020, aiming to take advantage of a familiar roster of playable characters from other Ubisoft-made Tom Clancy games like Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, The Division, and Splinter Cell. Elite Squad's legacy includes a small amount of controversy, however, as it came under fire shortly after launch for using a symbol historically tied to the Black Power movement as a logo for its enemy faction. That image, a very recognizable raised black fist, was removed following an apology from Ubisoft.