While it’s obvious that the publisher wanted to compete with Call of Duty, a report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier alleges that it arose after the cancellation of a Splinter Cell title. The project allegedly faced several changes, with the team, headed by Nick Herman (who left to co-found AdHoc Studio and work on Dispatch), attempting to adapt to a games-as-a-service model. Ultimately, it didn’t work out, and XDefiant happened instead.

However, Rubin refutes the rumor. “I can say that is not true. When I got to Ubisoft, they had been working on a game for a year that was very ambitious but was struggling to find the fun. And it was NOT a Splinter Cell game. I then canceled that one and let the team pitch any game ideas they wanted.”

Despite some “cool ones,” the team went with an arena shooter and “We found the fun quickly. So, no, we didn’t pivot off Splinter Cell to make XDefiant. Now, maybe they were thinking about working on Splinter Cell before I got there, but it was never a thing while I was there. My experience with Ubisoft was that they are very open to whatever the studio wants to do, which is great, but I do wish we could have used external engines.”

While acknowledging Schreier stating that the alleged Splinter Cell project started in 2017, while Rubin joined in 2019, the latter clarified that, “At no time when I was at Ubisoft was the San Francisco team working on Splinter Cell and that project was not canceled to make XDefiant. My beef with the article is that there was an implied action of canceling Splinter Cell to make XDefiant, and that is untrue. Maybe that wasn’t intentional, which is fine. Just trying to convey the real truth.”

Is it possible that a Splinter Cell title was in the works and cancelled for different reasons, while XDefiant started up separately and gained more resources? Perhaps. Even if there were traces of the former in the latter, it’s all moot since the title is no more.

Ubisoft has a remake of the first Splinter Cell in development, but it hasn’t offered a release date or showcased any gameplay.

While quite a bit of the post is about the shut down of XDefiant’s servers, Rubin has also noted that he will be leaving the industry as well. “As for me, I’ve decided to leave the industry and spend more time with my family so unfortunately you won’t be hearing about me making another game,” wrote Rubin.

“I do care passionately about the shooter space and hope that someone else can pick up the flag that I was trying to carry and make games again that care about the players, treat them with respect and listen to what they have to say. Thank you again to everyone who had so much passion for XDefiant.”

In other parts of his post, Rubin also spoke about the success XDefiant originally saw when it first came out last year, noting that the title had managed to garner quite a few players despite very little marketing. According to him, XDefiant boasted the fastest acquisition of players in its opening weeks in out of any of Ubisoft’s games.

“In fact, I would say something remarkable happened with this game in that although we had very little marketing, we still had the fastest acquisition of players in the first few weeks for a Ubisoft title just from you guys all talking about and promoting the game,” wrote Rubin. “But unfortunately, with little to no marketing, especially after launch, we weren’t acquiring new players after the initial launch.”

As for why XDefiant started losing players leading its its servers getting ultimately shut down, Rubin said that there were a number of different factors at play, including mounting tech debt for the developers that came about because they used an engine to power the game that wasn’t really meant for fast-paced competitive multiplayer shooters. The title’s netcode also suffered for similar reasons, since the engine wasn’t able to handle players with inconsistent connectivity well.

“I also think we made a decent impact in the space,” he wrote. “We saw a lot of reactions from other games to what we were doing and that to me speaks volumes. I’m really sorry we couldn’t quite deliver and maintain this game for a longer time.”

Back in May, Rubin had spoken about how studios should approach game development more like Larian Studios than Activision. He said that, rather than focusing on “FOMO (fear of missing out) marketing and EOMM (engagement-optimised matches).” studios should instead focus on making games with more player-centric design.

XDefiant was shut down after running its final season which was kicked off back in December. As part of the season, the game got three new factions and 13 new maps. Check out our coverage of the update for more details.

The factions in question include the Assassins (Assassin’s Creed), whose melee attacks can one-hit kill; the Wolves (Ghost Recon: Breakpoint), who use drones; and Blood Dragon (Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon) cyber soldiers with super strength and lasers. Though the original plan was to launch four new maps – Mykonos and El Barrio in Arena, Jorvik in Linear, and Animus Anomaly in Tactical – it also includes nine maps meant for future seasons.

New modes like Defuse, Lum Hunt, and Turbo XD are also available, alongside the option to play against Bots. The latter have “varying levels” of difficulty, and you earn reduced XP against them.

If that wasn’t enough, Season 3 includes some much-needed balance changes like a nerf to DedSec’s Spiderbots, faster movement for the Phantoms’ Blitz, and more. Check out the patch notes below for more details.

XDefiant is playable on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, though it’s no longer accepting new players. Check out our review of the base game here.

https://t.co/M9cNXq6fZ7

— XDefiant (@PlayXDefiant) December 18, 2024

Ubisoft has announced that XDefiant is shutting down. Starting today, new downloads will no longer be allowed, while servers will remain active for existing players only until June 3. Season 3 content will be released soon as scheduled, while anyone who purchased the Founder’s Pack – or anyone who made any in-game purchases within the last 30 days – will be fully refunded.

“Free-to-play, in particular, is a long journey,” executive producer Mark Rubin says. “Many free-to-play games take a long time to find their footing and become profitable. It’s a long journey that Ubisoft and the teams working on the game were prepared to make until very recently. But unfortunately, the journey became too much to sensibly continue.”

A report published by Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson also claims that alongside the game’s closure, Ubisoft is also shuttering its development team at Ubisoft San Francisco, as well as its Osaka studio. The resulting layoffs will reportedly result in 170-180 job cuts.

In his message announcing the game’s shuttering, executive producer Mark Rubin wrote, “I am, of course, heartbroken to have to be writing this post. Yes, this game has been a personal passion for me for years and yes, I know that not all challenges lead to victory, but I also want to recognize all of the developers who are being affected by this closure. Each and every one of them is a real person with a real life separate from our own and they have all put so much of their own passion into making this game. And I hope that they can be proud of what they did achieve. I know that I will always be proud and grateful to have worked with such a great team! A team that really punched above its weight class.”

XDefiant is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. As per Rubin, the game’s lifetime playerbase has crossed 15 million players.

The season marks the arrival of a new map, Clubhouse, with two more, Rockefeller and Daytona, arriving sometime later. Three new weapons are also available – the LVOA-C, a Sawed-off Shotgun and an unknown sniper rifle. Of course, the season also marks several changes, like the timing on Boosters only ticking down during matches, Battle Pass tiers having less XP thresholds and double XP from completing matches.

Echelon’s Intel Suit also has a longer cooldown alongside the Phantoms’ Mag Barrier, the latter also seeing a health reduction from 500 to 400. Meanwhile, Libertad’s BioVida Boost has a shorter cooldown from 25 to 20 seconds. Check out the other changes to Factions like DedSec below and full patch notes here.

XDefiant Y1S1.0 Patch Notes

Gameplay

• Changed the expiration timing of activated Boosters so their lifespan counts down only during match time, when you’re actually playing, rather than all the time, like when you’re folding laundry or whatever.
• Lowered the XP threshold for each Battle Pass tier to give Battle Pass progression a little more pep.
• Tuned Match Bonus XP rewards: MVP and Victory went from 2,000 to 1,000 XP. Draw went from 1,000 to 500. Completion doubled from 2,000 to 4,000 to encourage player stick-to-itiveness.
• Answered a community ask to add a headshot icon to the Killfeed because it feels good to rub it in.

Factions

• Added the GSK faction and their no-nonsense announcer: HQ.
  – These elite Team Rainbow operators from Germany’s Border Protection Command specialize in crowd control and securing territory. They can deploy electrified barbed wire for area denial, counter incoming enemy devices with their Active Defense System, and dazzle multiple foes with flash charges mounted on their G52-Tactical Shield ultra. Call them Grenzschutzkommando because it’s fun and also accurate.
• Increased the cooldown of Echelon’s Intel Suit from 30 to 40 seconds.
• Tuned the cooldown of the Phantoms’ Mag Barrier from 30 to 40 seconds. Mag Barrier hit points were also reduced from 500 to 400.
• The Phantoms’ AEGIS now takes damage from EMP grenades (lob six to put it out of commission).
• DedSec Hijack cooldown decreased from 28 seconds (plus the remaining duration of the hacked skill) to 20 seconds (plus the remaining duration of the hacked skill).
  – For example, let’s say a Mag Barrier has 7 seconds left and gets hacked: The cooldown becomes 20 plus 7 seconds. Failed Hijack cooldown, meanwhile, decreases from 8 to 5 seconds.
• DedSec’s Spiderbot cooldown increased from 25 to 40 seconds.
• Adjusted Spiderbot behavior so multiple Spiderbots won’t attempt to hug the same face, nor will Spiderbots continue to ignore faces they’ve hugged multiple recent times. Some give and take from the Spiderbot kingdom.
• Decreased the cooldown of Libertad’s BioVida Boost from 25 to 20 seconds.
• Fixed Libertad’s Medico Supremo so it will no longer disappear after the deploying player respawns as a different faction.

Maps

• Added the new Clubhouse map, a two-story hangout popular with international operators. Ideal for firefights in the short- to mid-range. Home to game modes Domination, Occupy, Hot Shot, and the new CTF.

Game Modes

• Added Capture the Flag, hereafter referred to as CTF. For the uninitiated: You take the enemy’s flag from their base and bring it back to your own, while protecting your team’s flag. CTF is available on a variety of maps.

The GSK will be familiar to Rainbow Six fans and utilize electric razor-wire to secure a point or an Active Defense System to shoot down explosives. The faction can also deploy a Flashshield, blocking damage while flashing and stunning enemies up close. If that wasn’t enough, their ballistic helmets allow for reduced headshot damage.

Other content includes the LVOA-C assault rifle, a new unrevealed sniper rifle and the Sawed-off Shotgun as a secondary. Players can also unlock new weapon skins at higher Mastery Levels, namely Titanium Violet at Mastery 4, Titanium Azure at Mastery 5 and Titanium Prisma at Mastery 6.

There are also three new maps – Clubhouse is available at launch, while Daytona and Rockefeller arrive later in the season (along with Capture the Flag). Kaptan, Iselda, Green and Stark are also getting new skins courtesy of the Premium Battle Pass. Check out the trailer below for more details.

XDefiant is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. It’s crossed 11 million players since launch.

A new mode, Capture the Flag, is also inbound alongside Ranked Progression. There will also be new skins for weapons and Operators. A full debrief is coming July 1st, so stay tuned for more details.

XDefiant is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC, with the Xbox One and PS4 versions coming later. You can check out our review, where we awarded it a 6 out of 10 due to its lack of content, features and terrible hit registration. There were also some game balance issues, so how GSK will fare remains to be seen.

Despite these issues, XDefiant reportedly had nearly eight million unique players in its launch week. Head here for more details.

Sources also expect it to reach eight million unique players by the end of today, beating the alleged internal goal of five million unique players in the first month. “Unique” players allegedly refer to those who downloaded and opened the game, not necessarily active players. However, it reportedly hit a commendable 700,000 concurrent players on May 27th across all platforms.

XDefiant is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. Check out our review here. Ubisoft San Francisco has said it’s working on fixing issues as part of supporting it for a “long time.” Stay tuned for more details and future updates, including content like new maps, weapons and a new faction.

The marketing was over-the-top and colorful; the factions were questionably known as Defiants and touted as “mavericks”, despite consisting of murderers and pyromaniacs. It’s clear that things have changed over time – the Outcasts and Wolves are gone, replaced by the Libertad from Far Cry 6 and Phantoms from Ghost Recon. The pyromaniacs i.e. the Cleaners, remain, because a flamethrower unit was probably required.

Why is XDefiant? Why are these factions battling against each other, or rather in mixed teams consisting of different members of the same? There’s no in-game explanation. Each faction having their own announcer during battle is pretty nice, whether it’s the calm and collected Echelon and the…er, calm and collected Phantoms, or the immolation enthusiasts at the Cleaners. What isn’t great is hearing them constantly lambast my performance when we’re losing. Yes, I know we lost, Libertad. Not like Far Cry 6 is doing so hot, but I digress.

"Whether it’s summoning a flamethrower as a Cleaner or engaging wallhacks through the map and killing with a silenced pistol as Echelon, they’re fairly significant, assuming you can get them."

XDefiant sort of exists as a crossover shooter that pulls maps and factions from across the back catalogue of Tom Clancy titles. If this sounds like a mishmash of tones, concepts, gameplay mechanics, systems and foundations without rhyme or reason, welcome to the XDefiant experience. Sometimes messy, sometimes erratic, fun under the right conditions and frustrating in others.

At its core, it’s a free-to-play first-person shooter with factions that have abilities. You may have noticed multiple characters for each faction, but those are like different playable models instead of unique heroes. There are five in total, with the fifth, DedSec, locked behind an absurd 700,000 XP requirement (with each victory granting 4K XP). You’re essentially playing with four heroes for a good chunk of the initial time.

Each faction has two unique abilities – select one before a match starts, then your loadout, and you’re good to go. While each faction is as capable with all the available weapon types, they have unique passives. Cleaners get Incendiary Ammo, resulting in reduced range but slight damage over time with their bullets, usually enough to clean up low-health enemies. Libertad heals nearby allies, Phantoms have 20 higher base health than the other factions, etc. They also have unique Ultimates called Ultras.

Whether it’s summoning a flamethrower as a Cleaner or engaging wallhacks through the map and killing with a silenced pistol as Echelon, they’re fairly significant, assuming you can get them. There’s no passive gain to Ultra meters, – it’s built up with kills, assists and playing the objective.

"Thankfully, it seems the development team nailed the gunplay. Each weapon, from the M4A1 and AK-47 assault rifles to the M44 sniper rifle and M870 shotgun, feels unique and fun."

On the one hand, I can appreciate the lack of an easy comeback mechanism to flip a match, and it encourages more than just hunting for kills. The Ults also feel more valuable when they come into play and they’re all pretty powerful in their own right (though Echelon and Libertad are probably the best). Sadly, it also feels like you get to use them once in a match if you’re lucky, and if one player gets theirs by running riot on the enemy team, that in itself is a significant snowball (assuming they don’t throw). It comes down to preference – do better, and you’re rewarded. Don’t, and a tough match becomes even more challenging to turn around.

That being said, the abilities could use some work. The Cleaners’ incendiary drone is a good idea in theory, sending out a straight line of fire, but it can often snag onto the environment and crash early. It’s still an effective bomb with a straight unimpeded line, yet underwhelming compared to Echelon’s ability to ping nearby targets and see them through walls, Phantoms’ barricade (which is ideal for securing chokepoints and zones), or Libertad’s healing BioVida Boost, which provides a healing area. This isn’t to say the other abilities are perfectly balanced – Echelon’s ping needs a longer cooldown, for instance.

Thankfully, it seems the development team nailed the gunplay. Each weapon, from the M4A1 and AK-47 assault rifles to the M44 sniper rifle and M870 shotgun, feels unique and fun. Even the M249 light machine gun, probably the worst option for reacting to sudden flanks if you’re not already aiming down sights, is hefty and responsive.

Weapon customization can seem daunting, especially when having to level up each weapon separately for their attachments. It feels like a dampener if you’re looking to swap around and try something else, but having to essentially focus on a single weapon just to be able to customize it to your liking, especially when leveling feels slow. Still, the amount of options is fairly robust – it won’t compete with Gunsmith anytime soon, but a healthy variety is available. You’re also limited to the number of equippable attachments, leading to some hard choices.

"The movement speed is already pretty high, which also seemingly applies to strafing and jumping, making you much harder to hit."

I also love the option to toggle detailed stats and see the effects of all your attachments on things like ADS stability, recoil control, movement speed and so on. Now, if only there was a way to see the benefits of each attachment when mousing over each tab so you know what it does, instead of selecting the specific category. Perhaps the only downside to this progression system is the Mastery skins, which reward boring Bronze, Silver and Gold skins when hitting different level thresholds.

On the downside, once again, the balance is iffy. Sniper rifles are pretty good right now, and while it’s possible to play around a single opponent, things get dicier when multiple opposing players are running around with the same. Emphasis on “running around” as I’ve seen the M44 used almost as they’re running and gunning. Maybe it needs some flinch to afford some counterplay when the enemy team focuses on you.

However, the alternative is excessive strafing, especially diagonal and jump strafing. The movement speed is already pretty high, which also seemingly applies to strafing and jumping, making you much harder to hit. It’s ridiculous sometimes, especially when you’re trying to get a bead on a single enemy killing your friend, but it’s also very effective, even if you perform the basics. At the very least, jump strafing should be toned down somewhat.

XDefiant offers five multiplayer modes – Domination is your standard Hardpoint where you capture and hold the zones. Hot Shot is like Kill Confirmed, except collecting enough dog tags (Bounties, as they’re referred to here) will turn you into the Hot Shot. This makes Bounties worth even more while also giving you a speed buff and coating your screen’s edges with an annoying glow.

Occupy is King of the Hill. Then you have Escort, where you accompany the payload to different checkpoints and a final objective, and Zone Control, with each team taking turns capturing five zones in a linear sequence. The team with the most captured zones and progress by the end of the second round wins.

"There’s no custom match option, limited-time modes, or any extra bells and whistles, aside from the Welcome playlist, which has skill-based matchmaking and is meant for new players up to level 25."

The map design is surprisingly good, for the most part. The questionability of recycling environments from The Division 1 and 2 aside, they offer a good mix of sightlines, environmental objects and places to mantle. Some maps are weaker than others – Pueblito and its bizarre spawns and the mess that is Arena – but they flow pretty well overall.

If nothing else, the simplicity of jumping into a match quickly, even if the lobby UI is a mess of challenges (with completed ones persisting), map voting and player names, is neat. Of course, when talking simplicity, you have an Unranked playlist, a trial of Ranked Mode and…that’s it. The Practice Area is inexplicably locked off, which is a shame because it apparently has some great features. It would have also been ideal when matchmaking wasn’t working at launch, though it’s unlikely to be available offline whenever the servers are down.

There’s no custom match option, limited-time modes, or any extra bells and whistles, aside from the Welcome playlist, which has skill-based matchmaking and is meant for new players up to level 25. Then you have the lack of Killcams, no Play of the Game or highlights at the end of a match, and the emphasis on highlighting achievements which your teammates can then upvote for no discernible reason.

You have to click a separate button to see the scoreboard during this time or check it after the match in the above tabs, as you’re redirected to the Battle Pass every single time, with the UI encouraging you to unlock those ranks and claim those rewards (read: Spend money). Your mileage may vary on the Battle Pass, but for what it’s worth, the free rewards are limited and entirely lackluster.

"It’s also worth noting that there are issues with the netcode, resulting in dying around corners or walls and awful hit registration."

At least the game doesn’t break up the lobbies after every match. If you find a comfortable lobby, you can easily play more matches together without some skill-based matchmaking breaking everyone up. There are still plenty of games where you match against (and with) players that are clearly better, and you will get stomped, so fair warning.

The sparseness doesn’t stop there, as the Career page is bereft of in-depth information, and there are no highlights, but at least you can customize the emojis used after getting killed. Why this is a feature, beyond selling custom emoji sets to equip, is beyond me. Launching a competitive shooter several years ago without many of these features, especially as a new IP, is one thing. However, there have been multiple competitive shooters over the years who have figured these out. Heck, the Rainbow Six Siege team could have provided some suggestions.

It’s also worth noting that there are issues with the netcode, resulting in dying around corners or walls and awful hit registration. It occurs regardless of your ping, though you may start to see opponents teleporting around at 100 ms upwards. Combined with the movement, which makes it harder to hit players, it can feel frustrating to pump multiple bullets into an enemy only to see them live. Meanwhile, they can turn after an ambush and seemingly melt you in seconds.

After my time with XDefiant, I finally unravelled the meaning of the name. If you return to the original reveal trailer, you’ll notice that the letters “XD” stand out, resembling the emoji of the same name. The whole “emotes” reaction thing in-game probably evolved from this, but it still doesn’t explain what the title was going for.

"Maybe the team wanted it to be this colorful shooter that you shouldn’t take seriously. Compared to back then, XDefiant’s presentation feels colder and more impersonal."

With the final version, the answer feels like a “generic clone by way of Tom Clancy” with some added jankiness, terrible hit registration, questionable movement, lack of content (let alone, basic quality of life features) and balance issues. Maybe the team wanted it to be this colorful shooter that you shouldn’t take seriously. Compared to back then, XDefiant’s presentation feels colder and more impersonal. The environments have a fair bit of detail to them.

For some odd reason, the video before each match that showcases different points of interest is lower resolution, perhaps to emulate security footage. It’s serviceable, but I would have preferred a more traditional high-resolution montage, a la Halo. At least the sound effects are on point, down to enemy footsteps and gunfire, though the announcers and their nagging tend to grate.

There are some positives and more than a few reasons to check it out. Maybe you’ll get into the gunplay and map flow. Perhaps the movement is what you’re looking for in skill floor and ceiling. The fact that it’s free certainly helps, and not having to deal with skill-based matchmaking for some casual play is pretty nice.

"Before XDefiant can be considered a serious competitor to anything, the foundation needs some serious work."

Nevertheless, the overall quality and package leave much to be desired. When you’re in the right lobby and cycling through different maps and modes, there’s that feeling of “just one more game”. However, it can get annoying when hit registration issues crop up, and opponents leap and strafe with wild abandon, effortlessly dodging your bullets before one-shotting you with a sniper.

More content, more rewards, more abilities for each faction, and maps are likely in the works, especially with plans to support it for a long time. However, before XDefiant can be considered a serious competitor to anything, the foundation needs some serious work. On the bright side, the development team has seemingly achieved the impossible – releasing a free-to-play competitive shooter in this day and age, which the vast majority hasn’t immediately disregarded.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Sources also told Henderson that it had 500,000 players at one point on all platforms. While that’s gone down, it’s still averaging about 300,000 concurrent players. Is this good or bad for the long-delayed title? Ubisoft is reportedly pleased, as the free-to-play shooter surpassed its internal milestones.

However, the long game is the most important. As Henderson notes, maintaining its player count while generating recurring revenue from the Battle Pass and in-game store will determine its long-term success.

XDefiant is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out this video from Ubisoft and various esports players for tips on tackling the different modes.