XDefiant seems almost mythical at this point. The Ubisoft shooter took the gaming world by storm last year when beta phases were opened up, pulling in more than one million players. There were positive reviews dished out and a release window was set in place, but that came and went. Following further delays, it became clear that XDefiant was plagued by development hell, and for the last few months, the project has remained relatively silent.
In a recent report, it was claimed that XDefiant isn’t cancelled, but it is still ‘a good few months from release’. That’s not the news that shooter fans the world over wanted to hear, but it’s better than hearing nothing at all. It was also claimed that XDefiant has ‘missed dozens of internal targets’ at Ubisoft, which has further weakened the game’s development timeline. It seems like this game may never materialise, but according to sources close to the project, it’s just being delayed a little further.
An Original Concept
Image Credit: Ubisoft
XDefiant is a solid shooter on paper with some innovative features. It’s made up of factions that are taken from Ubisoft’s line-up of games, such as The Division, Splinter Cell, and Far Cry. There is a string of traditional multiplayer modes ripe for exploration, and the entire game boasts a fast pace and high-octane energy. It proved to be an exhilarating game when it was opened up to the public for testing last year, filling prospective fans with hope about the future.
In a recent report by insider Tom Henderson, it was referenced that XDefiant is ‘constantly in limbo’. There are claims of widespread frustration among the development team working on XDefiant, and it’s the ‘higher-ups’ that are the root cause of many of the game’s problems. At this point, the XDefiant release date is still in the dark, but this report by Henderson outright states that the game ‘isn’t in danger of being cancelled’.
It was also said that XDefiant underwent extensive testing just today, with Ubisoft seeking to optimise the game’s store, netcode, menu, and other elements. There’s a desire to host a public playtest in the near future, but again, there’s no solid date there. There were intentions to release the first season of XDefiant by the end of March – but as that’s in little more than a week, it’s obvious that window won’t be hit after all.
