XDefiant Not Dying, Says Ubisoft: Key Updates and Roadmap for Year One Unveiled

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?

Hit registration, often referred to as hit reg, is game’s ability to correctly detect and register when a player’s shot hits a target, such as an enemy player. When you shoot at an opponent, the game’s server needs to accurately detect whether your shot landed and caused damage.

Howerver, since the begining Xdefiant players have reported that the hit registration is not as reliable as in other similar games, allowing characters to evade shots more frequently.

Despite the developer’s assurance since May that this issue is their “top priority“, it remains unresolved. Ubisoft has now offered a simplified explanation of the problem:

• Data packets are currently sent twice between players, whereas the industry standard is four times.
• To align with this standard, the XDefiant team aims to reduce the size of data packets to increase their transmission frequency.
• Ubisoft has brought on additional “specialist engineers” to expedite this process.

While no specific release date, the team hopes to make significant progress by the end of Season 2.

XDefiant Is Not “Dying”

The blog also directly addressed reports claiming that XDefiant is at risk of shutting down. A recent article from Insider Gaming claimed 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

Furthermore, Ubisoft 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 X/Twitter:

• The team is still working on the highly anticipated free-for-all mode and 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 is coming on September 25 bringing 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.

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