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Ubisoft is tackling the FPS from every angle, and now that includes its own Call of Duty-like 6v6 competitive shooter. It’s called Tom Clancy’s XDefiant, and it looks way more fun than its terrible name implies. XDefiant brings together a group of factions from other Clancy games and turns them into playable classes. Don’t call it a hero shooter: each faction has its own abilities and ultimates, but abilities aren’t unique to an individual.
It’s a little hard to wrap my head around, but just imagine Call of Duty if a Wolf from Ghost Recon Breakpoint could lay down a bubble shield, or an Echelon agent from Splinter Cell could slide while shooting you with a P90. It’s also free-to-play, so there won’t be much keeping you from trying it out yourself.
Here’s everything we know about XDefiant so far, including how to sign up for its upcoming test session.
Watch the XDefiant reveal trailer now
XDefiant beta signup
Ubisoft is running its first playable test of XDefiant sooner than you’d think. You can sign up here for a chance to play the test session that starts on August 5. The website will prompt you to select a preferred platform to play on and ask you what other types of shooters you play. Don’t worry too much about what answer you give, Ubi probably wants everyone to try the game out.
What is XDefiant’s release date?
Ubisoft hasn’t set a firm date for XDefiant’s release. If the rollout of other popular FPS games are serving as an inspiration here, then it probably won’t be long before XDefiant enters some sort of open beta.
What exactly is XDefiant?
XDefiant is a free-to-play, 6v6 arena FPS starring playable classes from the Tom Clancy universe. We haven’t seen a ton of gameplay so far, but based on what’s out there, XDefiant appears to play a lot like Call of Duty multiplayer. It has the same speed, a similar time-to-kill, flat-ish maps with limited verticality, and customizable loadouts. What sets it apart from most CoD games are its classes and character abilities, which we’ll touch on more below.
XDefiant classes
At launch, XDefiant will have four factions that each fill a different role on the team.
- Wolves (Ghost Recon): Tanks with increased health and shielding abilities that protect the team.
- Cleaners (The Division): Aggressive gunners with high damage abilities.
- Outcasts (The Division): XDefiant’s main healer role.
- Echelon (Splinter Cell): Support characters that can provide intel to the team and deny intel to opponents.
XDefiant’s beta will have 10 maps and five modes
Ubisoft is going big on maps right out of the game with XDefiant. In August’s upcoming test, players will have access to seven arena maps (think Call of Duty) and three linear maps.
The two map types each have unique modes suited to their shape. Escort (which sounds like a mode similar to Overwatch’s Payload ) can probably only be played on linear maps, for example. Here are the five modes Ubisoft is talking about:
- Domination (Arena)
- Ringleader (Arena)
- Upload (Arena)
- Escort (Linear)
- Zone Control (Linear)
XDefiant will have loadout customization
Like Call of Duty, players can build custom loadouts and equip various attachments to guns. We didn’t get a good look at this process in the reveal trailer, but we did see some of the game’s arsenal of assault rifles, LMGs, sniper rifles, shotguns, and SMGs. It’s a pretty standard collection of guns from what I can tell, and they sound pretty good based on snippets of gameplay.
Factions have unique abilities and ultimates
In addition to customized guns, players also have a few abilities unique to the faction they’re playing. Every faction has passives, a secondary gadget, and an ultimate ability that can only be used periodically (Ubisoft calls these “Ultras”). We saw a few abilities on display in the gameplay reveal, like the Cleaner’s flamethrower ultimate, the Wolves’ dome shield, the Echelon’s targeting goggles, and the Outcast’s healing beacon.
More factions are coming after launch
Ubisoft says it’s committing to XDefiant in the long term, and that means adding more factions to the game after launch. Ubi said these new factions will consist of more Tom Clancy crossovers (Rainbow Six, maybe?) as well as “beyond,” which suggests to me the game may branch out and make its own characters at some point.
Crossplay is “expected” day one
Ubisoft is continuing its habit of adding crossplay to its games with XDefiant, but it isn’t promising that it’ll be in there right when the game releases. Crossplay is “expected” to be in the game from the get-go, but don’t be surprised if it takes a little longer to arrive.
How exactly Ubi will implement crossplay will be interesting to see. Rainbow Six Siege is getting console crossplay early next year, but the PC version will remain separate due to the balancing considerations of pitting controller players versus mouse and keyboard. That makes sense in a tactical FPS with zero aim assist, but if XDefiant is closer in style to Call of Duty, Ubi might try to bridge the console/PC gap in the same way Activision has in Black Ops Cold War and Warzone.
XDefiant is exclusive to the Ubisoft Connect app on PC
A Ubisoft rep told PC Gamer that XDefiant will only be found on the Ubisoft Connect store on PC. It’s unclear if the game will come to other storefronts at some point, but “for right now,” it’s a Ubisoft Connect exclusive. All of the publisher’s other multiplayer games can be found on either Steam or the Epic Games Store, making XDefiant a special case.
Is ‘Tom Clancy’s XDefiant’ the worst ever name for a videogame?
Yes. Yes, it is. xD
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