Ubisoft has given free-to-play first-person shooter XDefiant a pre-season release date of May 21 on PC via Ubisoft Connect, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. Ubisoft failed to mention a release on PC via Steam or the Epic Games Store in its announcement.
XDefiant is Ubisoft’s Call of Duty rival in development at its San Francisco studio. It’s helmed by Mark Rubin, a former Call of Duty executive producer at Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward.
Ubisoft said that at launch, XDefiant includes five different game modes across 14 maps, 24 weapons with 44 attachments, and five playable factions inspired by Ubisoft franchises, each of which brings unique gameplay buffs and abilities to the fighting arena.
Factions offer a choice of two active abilities, as well as one passive buff, and an ultra ability that must be charged up during the match. One of the factions is Echelon from the Splinter Cell series. This uses stealth technology to reveal enemy locations and render themselves invisible on enemy maps. Libertad from Far Cry excels at healing support thanks to their BioVida medication. The Cleaners, from The Division, use fire to burn away their enemies. Ghost Recon’s Phantoms use their advanced training and technology to block damage. And the DedSec faction, from WatchDogs, hacks enemy gadgets and lets you sic spiderbots on unsuspecting opponents. Ubisoft said that at launch, DedSec will be locked, as will two of the other faction’s playable characters, but all can be earned by completing in-game missions.
Ubisoft has delayed XDefiant a number of times as it’s wrestled with various issues. Most recently, XDefiant missed its end of March release window after a prior delay skipped a planned October 2023 launch. In IGN’s XDefiant beta impressions, we said: “Again, it’s not perfect and definitely requires a lot of major and fine tuning. But the core gameplay is there and it’s fun.”
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
