Ubisoft’s recent investor meeting revealed unannounced information about the arrival of XDefiant. The shooter is slated to release sometime during the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, which ranges from January to March 2024. As a result, the new shooter could be available sooner than most may have anticipated.
When is the XDefiant release date?
According to Ubisoft’s recent third-quarter sales update, XDefiant will be available sometime before March 31. Listed along with nine other Ubisoft titles as an upcoming digital release for the current quarter, this is the first we’ve seen of a release window for the shooter. It’s listed as “XDefiant: Season 0,” which tells us it could be considered early access.
The update says XDefiant will come to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. Other titles coming from Ubisoft during the same window include Skull and Bones season one, plus new seasons of The Divison 2, Rainbow Six Siege, and The Crew.
Is XDefiant a true Call of Duty competitor?
XDefiant is a free-to-play multiplayer first-person shooter. Using the Snowdrop engine, many view it as a direct competitor to Call of Duty multiplayer. An open beta for the upcoming game took place in June 2023 on all three platforms. It received mostly positive feedback, with the obvious changes required you’d expect of an early access beta.
Primarily, the game is focused on playing the way most competitive Call of Duty players want it to play. That means more competitive game modes, maps built for competitive play, and fewer unbalanced items (mines, rockets, etc.). The beta didn’t accomplish anything other arcade shooters haven’t in the past, but it did everything it needed to pretty well. Even the map pool, which included 14 unique maps back in June, is massive for modern games.
Additionally, developer Ubisoft San Francisco may have an ace up its sleeve. Former Call of Duty League professional player “ACHES” is a consultant on the project. Call of Duty developers almost never listen to pro player feedback or take competitive gameplay into account.
Focusing on the bigger picture, casual players, who are the vast majority to buy yearly COD installments, are the primary target. As such, ACHES may be the secret sauce Ubisoft SF needs to make XDefiant the competitive Call of Duty game many have wanted for years.
