XDefiant

Last updated

XDefiant
XDefiant covert art.jpeg
Developer(s) Ubisoft San Francisco [lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s) Ubisoft
Director(s)
  • Safy Saada
Producer(s)
  • Mark Rubin
  • Jason Schroeder
Designer(s)
  • Matt Morales
  • John E. Slaydon
Artist(s)
  • Carmen Chow
  • Yuki Takahashi
Writer(s)
  • Demian Linn
Composer(s)
  • Nicholas Bonardi
Engine Snowdrop
Platform(s)
ReleaseMay 21, 2024
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Multiplayer

XDefiant (formerly known as Tom Clancy's XDefiant) is a 2024 free-to-play first-person shooter game developed by Ubisoft San Francisco and published by Ubisoft. The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on May 21, 2024. It received mixed reviews from critics.

Contents

Gameplay

XDefiant features a variety of factions and classes, each with their own unique abilities and weapons. It is set in the Ubisoft universe, map locations are based on multiple Ubisoft titles' in-game locations. Players engage in fast-paced, team-based multiplayer matches across a variety of maps and game modes. [1]

The setting of the game revolves around factions called "Defiants", that previously appeared in other Ubisoft franchises. [2] Defiants are customizable with traits, abilities, devices, weapons and items. [3] It has 6-versus-6 linear game modes (such as "Domination" and "Escort"). [4]

Factions
Base game
FactionOriginal game/franchise
Cleaners The Division
DedSec Watch Dogs
Echelon Splinter Cell
Libertad Far Cry 6
Phantoms Ghost Recon Phantoms
Seasonal Updates
SeasonFactionOriginal game/franchise
Season 1GS-Kommando Rainbow Six Siege
Season 2Highwaymen Far Cry New Dawn

Development

XDefiant was announced by Ubisoft in July 2021. [5] A closed Insider test of a pre-alpha version of XDefiant occurred in North America in 2021. [6] A second Insider test was held in February 2023. [7] A closed beta test began on April 13 and ended on April 23. [8] In March 2022, the game was rebranded as a part of the Ubisoft Originals brand, dropping the Tom Clancy's universe title, as the inclusion of characters from other Ubisoft franchises was planned, including those from the Tom Clancy's universe, as previously mentioned. [9]

On April 17, 2023, shortly after the launch of the game's closed beta, XDefiant became one of the top games to be streamed on the Twitch streaming platform, gaining around 50k viewers and passing the combined popularity of Warzone 2.0 and Modern Warfare II . [10]

During the Ubisoft Forward presentation on June 12, 2023, Ubisoft announced an open session, which started on June 20 for closed beta test participants (June 21 for all players) and ended on June 23. A Public Test Session was announced solely for PC started on September 28 and ended the following day. [11] Ubisoft planned the game to release in early-to-mid October, [12] however the game ultimately missed this window.

This delay was the result of the open session, which had "surfaced some inconsistencies in the game experience", director Mark Rubin announced that XDefiant's release was delayed temporarily, [13] with the game ultimately releasing the following year.

Release

XDefiant was released on May 21, 2024. On its launch day, it achieved 1 million unique players within two and a half hours. The milestone makes it Ubisoft's fastest game to reach 1 million unique players. 48 hours after launch, XDefiant had just over 3 million unique players and around 300,000 concurrent players across all platforms. Despite initial server issues causing many players to wait in the menu, these problems were resolved approximately eight to ten hours after launch. [14] [15] By June, it had accumulated 11 million players. [16]

The Year 1 Roadmap initially included four seasons with 12 new weapons, 12 new maps, four new factions, four battle passes, as well as other new content and fixes. [17] [18] Season 1 was announced along with a release date of July 2, 2024 in the Ubisoft Forward 2024 event. Content included three maps, with one map coming out per month, three new weapons, a new faction (GSK from Rainbow Six: Siege ), Capture the Flag mode, ranked progression rewards, and more in-store items and bundles. The studio also revealed an XDebrief event centered on the new season, scheduled to occur a day before the season's release. [19]

Season 2 was announced to launch on September 24, 2024. It was rumored that the Highwaymen from Far Cry New Dawn would be joining the game as a new faction. [20]

Following layoffs at Ubisoft studios including the game's primary studio, Ubisoft San Francisco, it was rumored that Ubisoft was considering ending support for the game, as the concurrent player count had dropped below 20,000 players. [21]

Reception

XDefiant received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. [25]

Notes

Related Research Articles

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a series of stealth action-adventure video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels that were endorsed by Tom Clancy. The series follows Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of a fictional black-ops sub-division within the NSA, dubbed "Third Echelon", as he overcomes his adversaries. Levels are created using Unreal Engine and emphasize light and darkness as gameplay elements. The series has been positively received, and was once considered to be one of Ubisoft's flagship franchises. The series had sold 19 million units by 2008. No further installments have been released since 2013. A remake of the first game was announced in December 2021. Characters inspired by the game's "Third Ecehlon" faction are featured in XDefiant.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon is a series of military tactical shooter video games published by Ubisoft. In the series, the player is in charge of a fictional, newly conceived squad of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers from Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group stationed at Fort Bragg. Except for the "1st Battalion, 5th SFG" designation, this reconnaissance unit is entirely fictional, as Special Forces Battalions currently only support three Companies. They are often referred to as "the Ghosts". Their role is like other real world special operations forces, in that their operations are kept highly classified. In Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, it is shown that the Ghost's unit has multiple designations and is part of JSOC; they are also known as the Group for Specialized Tactics, much like real JSOC units such as Delta Force and SEAL Team Six. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon has also been novelized by Grant Blackwood under the pseudonym David Michaels.

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<i>Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Phantoms</i> 2014 multiplayer shooter video game

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Phantoms was a multiplayer third-person tactical shooter video game, released in 2014 as a free-to-play game for Microsoft Windows. The game is part of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon series. Some of the game's characters are featured in XDefiant. On August 25, 2016, Ubisoft announced that it would shut down Phantoms' servers on December 1, 2016, due to "a slow but steady decline in users".

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References

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