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Ubisoft Denies Reports XDefiant Is Dying, Provides Updated Year One Roadmap

havoc00

Member
Ubisoft has released an updated Year One roadmap for its free-to-play shooter, XDefiant, highlighting important changes and new content coming down the road. The blog post also denies reports that XDefiant is dying, stating that the game is in a healthy state and that Ubisoft has provided additional resources to the team to fix some of the larger issues, like hit registration.

The blog post starts by addressing the issues players have been having with the hit registration in XDefiant, which doesn't work as reliably as some other multiplayer shooters. The simplified explanation given is that currently packets are sent twice between players, but the industry standard is four times. In order to achieve this, the XDefiant team needs to reduce the size of their packets so they can send them more times. No solid release date was given, but the team hopes to make significant progress by the end of Season 2.

The blog post also denies reports that XDefiant is in trouble at Ubisoft, although it doesn't respond directly to some of the claims. The report from Insider Gaming from late August stated that XDefiant player numbers have dropped off significantly since launch and that if Season 3 doesn't turn things around, the game could be in danger of shutting down. The blog post states that "no, the game is absolutely not dying," and reiterates that quality-of-life improvements are high on the priority list.

The blog post also includes an updated roadmap for XDefiant. It reiterates that each season will include three new maps, three new guns, and a new faction to play, but now it also lists progression changes and quality of life changes. Season 2 includes player collision and footstep audio improvements, in addition to event challenges and improved battle pass progression.

Executive producer on XDefiant Mark Rubin shared on Twitter that the team is still working on free-for-all and will provide an updated ETA when they can. Rubin also clarified that updates coming in later seasons are not being held, but are still being worked on, like the prestige system coming in Season 3.

Season 2 of XDefiant will be revealed on September 18, where the new faction, the Highwaymen, and weapons should be showcased. Ubisoft recently suffered layoffs, adding to the over 10,000 gaming jobs lost this year.

4368766-xdefiantroadmap.jpg


 

simpatico

Member
However much money Ubisoft spends on XDefiant between now and the eventually closure (no later than 12/31/25) is just money thrown right into the shredder. Filling the game up with Ubi IPs as the teams was a death sentence. Just spec ops teams from the 5 eyes countries and a few fictional terror cells would have gone over so much better.
 
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Kacho

Gold Member
However much money Ubisoft spends on XDefiant between now and the eventually closure (no later than 12/31/25) is just money thrown right into the shredder. Filling the game up with Ubi IPs as the teams was a death sentence.
Same with Skull and Bones. They’re dumping insane amounts of money into these dead games hoping they’ll catch on.

Ubisoft really wanted to become a live service juggernaut 6ish years ago and it’s been a spectacular disaster for them.

XDefiant
Skull and Bones
Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Crew 1-3
Steep
Riders Republic
I’m pretty sure they had a rollerblade game at some point…

^ all failed on some level. The only thing holding them up is AssCreed and Far Cry, but even that is starting to look dicey.
 

havoc00

Member
Same with Skull and Bones. They’re dumping insane amounts of money into these dead games hoping they’ll catch on.

Ubisoft really wanted to become a live service juggernaut 6ish years ago and it’s been a spectacular disaster for them.

XDefiant
Skull and Bones
Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Crew 1-3
Steep
Riders Republic
I’m pretty sure they had a rollerblade game at some point…

^ all failed on some level. The only thing holding them up is AssCreed and Far Cry, but even that is starting to look dicey.
Fuck that Rollerblading game, that was such a pos lmao
 

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
Same with Skull and Bones. They’re dumping insane amounts of money into these dead games hoping they’ll catch on.

Ubisoft really wanted to become a live service juggernaut 6ish years ago and it’s been a spectacular disaster for them.

XDefiant
Skull and Bones
Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Crew 1-3
Steep
Riders Republic
I’m pretty sure they had a rollerblade game at some point…

^ all failed on some level. The only thing holding them up is AssCreed and Far Cry, but even that is starting to look dicey.

+ Hyperscape, which never even released after the beta
+ The Division Homeland, which got canned before it ever even got a beta

Hundreds and hundreds of millions down the shitter. How their CEO retained his job through all this is beyond me.
 

simpatico

Member
Same with Skull and Bones. They’re dumping insane amounts of money into these dead games hoping they’ll catch on.

Ubisoft really wanted to become a live service juggernaut 6ish years ago and it’s been a spectacular disaster for them.

XDefiant
Skull and Bones
Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Crew 1-3
Steep
Riders Republic
I’m pretty sure they had a rollerblade game at some point…

^ all failed on some level. The only thing holding them up is AssCreed and Far Cry, but even that is starting to look dicey.
Compared to PS2 gen

Splinter Cell
Prince of Persia
Assassins Creed (real)
Rainbow 6 Vegas
Ghost Recon GRAW
Brothers in Arms
Far Cry (real)
Beyond Good and Evil

and probably more good shit I'm forgetting. Such a fall from grace. They used to have something for everyone. A serious company pursuing the gaming arts.
 
Same with Skull and Bones. They’re dumping insane amounts of money into these dead games hoping they’ll catch on.

Ubisoft really wanted to become a live service juggernaut 6ish years ago and it’s been a spectacular disaster for them.

XDefiant
Skull and Bones
Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Crew 1-3
Steep
Riders Republic
I’m pretty sure they had a rollerblade game at some point…

^ all failed on some level. The only thing holding them up is AssCreed and Far Cry, but even that is starting to look dicey.
I agree with you but there is another thing holding them up big time - Siege. It's still in the 15 games on Steam.
 

wipeout364

Member
Needs SBMM, the current slaughter fest drove away all the casuals and left a bunch of angry sweats.

Problem is Mark Rubin is going to have to eat some serious crow to implement it and the guys ego probably won’t allow it.

The data was all there from Activision and EA so it was just stupidity on his part not to put it in at the start.
 

FreeY$L

Neo Member
Needs SBMM, the current slaughter fest drove away all the casuals and left a bunch of angry sweats.

Problem is Mark Rubin is going to have to eat some serious crow to implement it and the guys ego probably won’t allow it.

The data was all there from Activision and EA so it was just stupidity on his part not to put it in at the start.
It was their marketing gimmick. Only people who even know what sbmm is are the sweats who were screeching on cod forums/videos for years. The average gamer does not know or care, which is why Activision was ahead of the curve and knew not to listen to these mongrels and went hard on SBMM.
 

Barakov

Member
Ubisoft has released an updated Year One roadmap for its free-to-play shooter, XDefiant, highlighting important changes and new content coming down the road. The blog post also denies reports that XDefiant is dying, stating that the game is in a healthy state and that Ubisoft has provided additional resources to the team to fix some of the larger issues, like hit registration.

The blog post starts by addressing the issues players have been having with the hit registration in XDefiant, which doesn't work as reliably as some other multiplayer shooters. The simplified explanation given is that currently packets are sent twice between players, but the industry standard is four times. In order to achieve this, the XDefiant team needs to reduce the size of their packets so they can send them more times. No solid release date was given, but the team hopes to make significant progress by the end of Season 2.

The blog post also denies reports that XDefiant is in trouble at Ubisoft, although it doesn't respond directly to some of the claims. The report from Insider Gaming from late August stated that XDefiant player numbers have dropped off significantly since launch and that if Season 3 doesn't turn things around, the game could be in danger of shutting down. The blog post states that "no, the game is absolutely not dying," and reiterates that quality-of-life improvements are high on the priority list.

The blog post also includes an updated roadmap for XDefiant. It reiterates that each season will include three new maps, three new guns, and a new faction to play, but now it also lists progression changes and quality of life changes. Season 2 includes player collision and footstep audio improvements, in addition to event challenges and improved battle pass progression.

Executive producer on XDefiant Mark Rubin shared on Twitter that the team is still working on free-for-all and will provide an updated ETA when they can. Rubin also clarified that updates coming in later seasons are not being held, but are still being worked on, like the prestige system coming in Season 3.

Season 2 of XDefiant will be revealed on September 18, where the new faction, the Highwaymen, and weapons should be showcased. Ubisoft recently suffered layoffs, adding to the over 10,000 gaming jobs lost this year.

4368766-xdefiantroadmap.jpg


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