While fans have claimed that Ubisoft’s arcade shooter XDefiant seems like it’s never coming out, work continues on the project. According to EP Mark Rubin, there’s plenty that still needs to be done and the game has no release date, but there are some heartening developments in the process.
Early in October, XDefiant faced another delay in its extremely long development. The delay came after a playtest in which fans thought the game had regressed significantly from the previous playtest. Rubin still can’t give fans a release date, but has mentioned some improvements during the game over the past month.
XDefiant will be switching its servers to Linux, which they hope will increase overall server quality, easing some of the growing pains from the most recent playtest. The netcode has also been improved after a bug with the anti-cheat software was worked out.
One of the bigger updates is to the social systems in the game, which were strained during the latest playtest as well. The newer system should ease the chore of partying up with your friends, which theoretically should be a smooth process.
XDefiant has a great core gameplay loop in the times that I’ve gotten to play the game. The time to kill feels long enough to force outplays, but not so long that enemies are bullet sponges. The ultimate abilities are powerful, but not completely game-breaking. The factions are fun and interesting, and I like the idea of a shooter in the SSBM style of pulling in characters across Ubisoft IP.
The only thing left is to execute on a great shooter right out of the box. Playtests indicate that there’s a lot of work to be done, but the great foundation means that only a heavy coat of polish is needed. As long as the servers work, that is.
