Is XDefiant on its last legs? While recent reports have claimed the fledgling FPS may be dying, developers have fired back to assure it’s doing just fine and that Ubisoft is fully behind them.
There’s no denying XDefiant has had a rocky start. From its May 21 release, we’ve dealt with all sorts of game-breaking issues like performance woes and less than stellar netcode, along with some extremely frustrating abilities like the all too prominent pre-nerf Spider-Bot.
From core fundamentals simply not working as intended to new modes being slammed as a “train wreck,” it’s not exactly been the smoothest rollout. Though despite it all, there’s still a competent and engaging arena shooter underneath it all, one that’s kept us coming back for weeks on end.
Constant communication from those steering the ship has kept its small but mighty player base engaged, though reports have claimed that player count is dwindling beyond the point of repair. “XDefiant is on borrowed time,” as Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson put it.
Well, is that actually the case? Apparently not, as devs have again chimed in to assure XDefiant is indeed “doing well” and that Ubisoft has no plans to abandon the project anytime soon.
As a live-service F2P title, there’s always a stream of new content. This is laid out through an annual roadmap, spilling the beans on what fans can expect in the coming months.
Initially, when XDefiant players saw the Year 1 roadmap, it outlined plans for the first four seasons, though in a fairly barebones manner. Now, a revised Year 1 roadmap has been revealed, detailing dozens of new additions in the form of modes, progression rewards, major events, and more.
This is the first surefire sign XDefiant isn’t going anywhere yet. Devs clearly still have long-term goals for the FPS, with new factions, maps, features, and the “biggest event” yet all in the pipeline. There’s plenty of work being done to improve the experience and to ensure fans don’t drop the game from their rotation.
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Doubling down, an accompanying blog post from Executive Producer Mark Rubin shot down all recent reports of XDefiant’s alleged demise.
“I just want to quickly address the status of the game. i.e. is the game dying?” Rubin said plain and simple. “No, the game is absolutely not dying.”
While he acknowledged ongoing issues like netcode and hit registration, as well as core progression being a little lackluster, on the whole, “the game is doing well. We just want it to do better.”
So does XDefiant have the player count to rival Call of Duty? Obviously not. But is the game still doing well enough to continue support in the long term? Evidently so.
“Ubisoft is very much behind us and has allocated more resources to the team in order for us to do that.”
In an era where some sections on the internet are seemingly preying on the downfall of games before they even get out the gate, XDefiant became an easy target due to its shortcomings at launch.
But through all the noise, it’s clear XDefiant is here to stay, at least for the short term. Is there any guarantee it’ll be thriving five years from now? Of course, no one can say for certain. But Ubisoft isn’t ready to give up on it.