Ubisoft Call of Duty Rival xDefiant 'Absolutely Not Dying,' Dev Insists
Ubisoft has insisted its Call of Duty rival xDefiant is doing well despite analyst reports that it failed to meet expectations.
xDefiant executive producer Mark Rubin said in a blog post that the first-person multiplayer shooter “is absolutely not dying” but the development studio Ubisoft San Francisco is aware changes need to be made.
“I just want to quickly address the status of the game, i.e. is the game dying?,” Rubin said, “No, the game is absolutely not dying. We know there are things we need to improve like Netcode and 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.”
xDefiant is a free-to-play, fast-paced arena shooter that combines intense gunplay with personalized loadouts and specialized factions. That market it’s competing in can be incredibly brutal, and perhaps after PlayStation arena shooter Concord was shut down after just two weeks on the market, some fans of xDefiant were concerned for its longevity.
Analysts said earlier this year that xDefiant had seen lower than expected engagement following a strong launch in May, though Ubisoft hasn’t released player numbers or revenue figures. Because xDefiant is not available through Steam on PC, and instead just on the Ubisoft store, we have no indiciation of PC concurrent player counts. Concern also came when members of staff at Ubisoft San Francisco were also laid off in August.
In our 7/10 xDefiant review, IGN said: “The fundamentals of xDefiant are good, but conflicting ideas and mechanics stop it from standing above a crowded shooter field.”
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