Ubisoft continues to insist XDefiant is “absolutely not dying,” shares new development roadmap

Following persistent player complaints and claims that Ubisoft’s free-to-play shooter XDefiant is underperforming, the publisher has insisted that the game is “absolutely not dying”. Plans to address a number of issues have been revealed in an updated development roadmap.

Ubisoft shared XDefiant’s latest roadmap in a recently published blog post, starting with an update on the game’s netcode and hitreg issues, while admitting that there’s “still a long way to go” in terms of improvements. “I want to briefly talk about the status of the game. Is the game dying?” the author wrote at the time. “No, the game is absolutely not dying. We know there are things we need to improve, like Netcode/Hitreg and adding more content to the progression, but the game is performing well. We just want it to be better. And we’ll do that by addressing the concerns of our community, which has always been the plan.”

The message continued: “Ubisoft is fully behind us and has allocated more resources to the team so that we can do that.” To that end, the accompanying roadmap promises “lots of new content and features” for XDefiant’s first year, culminating in the “biggest event ever.”

According to Ubisoft’s roadmap, Seasons 2, 3, and 4 will each feature a new faction, three new weapons, three new maps, and new limited-time modes, with more specific additions – such as the arrival of Bots Mode, Bomb! Mode, and Private Matches – also mentioned. Additionally, there’s talk of a host of planned improvements, including changes to the speed at which the Battle Pass progresses, plus improvements to the cloak, player collision, and footstep audio – to go along with ongoing netcode and hitreg work.

Ubisoft’s update follows a share price drop that has been partly attributed to lower-than-expected interest in XDefiant, and comes after players claimed the shooter was “rushed to release”. Responding to the latest suggestion in July, XDefiant producer Mark Rubin insisted that this was not the case – instead blaming teething problems with a game engine “that was designed for something else”, and admitting there were “a lot of bugs”.

“We’re not a shooter that’s been around for 20 years,” Rubin continued. “If you like what we’re trying to do, stick around and you’ll see things get better and new features get added. But if the game isn’t for you, that’s OK, you can move on.”