By Sagar V. Mankar Ubisoft has released a detailed Year One roadmap for its free-to-play shooter, XDefiant, outlining upcoming changes and new content.
Alongside this, the company addressed concerns about the game’s future, firmly denying rumors that XDefiant is struggling or in danger of being shut down.
Ubisoft has assured players that the game remains in a healthy state and is continuing to receive support, including additional resources to resolve some key issues, like hit registration.
What’s Being Done About Hit Registration Issues?
One of the major points highlighted is the ongoing issue of hit registration, where the system doesn’t function as reliably as other multiplayer shooters. Ubisoft has provided a simplified explanation of the problem:
- Currently, data packets are sent twice between players
- The industry standard is four times
- To achieve this, the XDefiant team needs to reduce packet size so they can be transmitted more frequently
Although no specific release date was mentioned, the team hopes to make significant progress by the end of Season 2. Ubisoft says they added some more “specialist engineers” to help them with this work.
XDefiant Not “Dying”
The blog also directly addressed reports claiming that XDefiant is at risk of shutting down. It all started when an article from Insider Gaming suggested that player numbers have significantly dropped since the game’s launch, and the future of the game could be uncertain if Season 3 fails to reignite interest.
However, the developer team has refuted these claims, stating clearly that “XDefiant is absolutely not dying.”
“We know there are things we need to improve like Netcode/Hitreg and adding more content to progression, but the game is doing well. We just want it to do better. And we do that by addressing the concerns of our community which has always been the plan. Ubisoft is very much behind us and has allocated more resources to the team in order for us to do that.”
Year One Roadmap
Ubisoft also shared an updated roadmap for the game’s content in the coming seasons.
- Each season will include three new maps, three new guns, and a new faction
- Season 2 will bring player collision and footstep audio improvements
- Event challenges and improved battle pass progression are on the horizon
Here is the Year One roadmap:
Mark Rubin, the executive producer of XDefiant, has also shared some additional insights via Twitter:
- The team is still working on the highly anticipated free-for-all mode
- An updated ETA for this mode will be provided when available
- The prestige system is slated for Season 3 and is actively being developed, not held back
Season 2 of XDefiant, revealed on September 18, showcases the new faction, the Highwaymen, along with new weapons and additional content.
Despite Ubisoft facing layoffs recently, the company remains committed to XDefiant’s development, continuing to invest in improvements and new content for its player base.