XDefiant
XDefiant | |
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Developer(s) | Ubisoft San Francisco[a] |
Publisher(s) | Ubisoft |
Director(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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Designer(s) |
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Artist(s) |
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Writer(s) |
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Composer(s) |
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Engine | Snowdrop |
Platform(s) | |
Release | May 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.
Gameplay
[edit]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 "Defiant", Phantoms (from Ghost Recon), Echelon (from Splinter Cell), Cleaners (from The Division), Libertad (from Far Cry) and DedSec (from Watch Dogs).[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]
Marketing
[edit]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 13 April and ended on 23 April.[8] In March 2022, the game was rebranded as a part of the Ubisoft Originals brand, dropping the Tom Clancy's universe title, and is expected to feature characters from other Ubisoft franchises, including those from the Tom Clancy's universe, as previously mentioned.[9]
On 17 April 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 12 June 2023, Ubisoft announced an open session, which started on 20 June for closed beta test participants (21 June for all players) and ended on 23 June. A Public Test Session was announced for PC only starting on 28 September and ending on 29 September.[11] Ubisoft planned the game to release in early-to-mid October.[12] The Year 1 Roadmap includes four seasons with 12 new weapons, maps, balance, and 4 characters update.[13][14] After the session "surfaced some inconsistencies in the game experience", director Mark Rubin announced that XDefiant's release was delayed temporarily.[15] Season 1 was announced along with a release date of July 2 in the Ubisoft Forward 2024 event. Content includes 3 maps, with one map coming out per month, 3 new weapons, a new faction (GSK (from Rainbow Six: Siege), Capture the Flag mode, ranked progression rewards, and more in-store items and bundles. They also revealed an XDebrief event which will be centered on the new season, which will occur a day before the season's release.[16]
Release
[edit]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.[17][18] By June, it had accumulated 11 million players.[19]
Reception
[edit]Aggregator | Score |
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Metacritic | (PC) 69/100[20] (XSXS) 71/100[21] (PS5) 68/100[22] |
XDefiant received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[23]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Additional work by Ubisoft Annecy, Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Sydney, Ubisoft Pune, Ubisoft Toronto, Ubisoft Mumbai, Ubisoft Saguenay, Ubisoft Kyiv, Ubisoft Odesa, Ubisoft Osaka, Ubisoft Winnipeg and Red Storm Entertainment
References
[edit]- ^ "XDefiant | Ubisoft (US)". www.ubisoft.com. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20240612004857/https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/xdefiant
- ^ Gonzalez, Oscar (July 19, 2021). "Tom Clancy's XDefiant lets players play the bad guys from the Clancyverse". CNET. Archived from the original on August 26, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- ^ "XDefiant | Ubisoft (US)". www.ubisoft.com. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
- ^ McWhertor, Michael (July 19, 2021). "Ubisoft announces Tom Clancy's XDefiant, a colorfully chaotic free-to-play FPS". Polygon. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ "XDefiant Developer Update: Closed Test Results" (Press release). Ubisoft. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
- ^ "Announcing Cross-Play Insider Session" (Press release). Ubisoft. February 14, 2023.
- ^ "Closed Beta Announcement" (Press release). Ubisoft. April 6, 2023.
- ^ Subhan, Ishraq (March 17, 2022). "Ubisoft drops Tom Clancy's name from XDefiant". Eurogamer. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ Saliedeen, Salmaan (April 16, 2023). "New Competitive FPS Has Surpassed Call of Duty: Warzone on Twitch". Game Rant. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ "Getting access to the XDefiant Public Test Session". Ubisoft. Retrieved October 7, 2023.[dead link]
- ^ "An Update on the Release of XDefiant from Mark Rubin". Ubisoft. September 11, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
- ^ Koselke, Anna (June 12, 2023). "XDefiant launches this summer, with an open beta coming soon". PCGamesN.
- ^ "XDefiant - UbiForward & What's Next". Ubisoft. June 12, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ Koselke, Anna (October 10, 2023). "XDefiant release delayed indefinitely due to 'inconsistencies'". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on October 12, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
- ^ Taylor-Hill, Grant (June 10, 2024). "XDefiant Season One Content Revealed". Insider Gaming. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
- ^ Henderson, Tom (May 23, 2024). "EXCLUSIVE - XDefiant Hits 1 Million Unique Players Within 2.5 Hours of Launch". Insider Gaming. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- ^ "Ubisoft's COD-Like Shooter XDefiant is Unplayable for Many on Launch Day".
- ^ "CEO Yves Guillemot on Ubisoft's Upcoming Portfolio, the Future of Assassin's Creed". news.ubisoft.com. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
- ^ "XDefiant critic reviews (PC)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ "XDefiant critic reviews (XSXS)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ "XDefiant critic reviews (PS5)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ "XDefiant". www.metacritic.com. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
External links
[edit]- 2024 video games
- Cancelled PlayStation 4 games
- Cancelled Stadia games
- Cancelled Xbox One games
- First-person shooters
- Multiplayer online games
- PlayStation 4 games
- PlayStation 5 games
- Tom Clancy games
- Ubisoft games
- Windows games
- Xbox One games
- Xbox Series X and Series S games
- Video games developed in the United States