Ubisoft insists XDefiant is “absolutely not dying” and shares new development roadmap

Amid ongoing player complaints and claims that Ubisoft's free-to-play shooter XDefiant is not performing as expected, the publisher stresses that the game is “absolutely not dying” and reveals plans to fix a number of issues in an updated development roadmap.

Ubisoft shared XDefiant's latest roadmap in a recent blog post, starting with an update on the game's netcode and hitreg issues and admitting that it is “still [has] there is still a long way to go in terms of improvements. “I just want to quickly touch on the state of the game. So is the game dying?” the author then wrote. “No, the game is definitely not dying. We know there are things we need to improve, like netcode/hitreg and adding more content to progression, but the game is running well. We just want it to get better. And we're doing that by addressing our community's concerns, which has always been the plan.”

The post continues: “Ubisoft is fully behind us and has allocated more resources to the team to help us achieve this.” To this end, the accompanying roadmap promises “lots of new content and features” for the first year of XDefiant, which is set to culminate in the “biggest event ever.”

According to Ubisoft's roadmap, Seasons 2, 3 and 4 will each include a new faction, three new weapons, three new maps and new limited-time modes, while also mentioning more specific additions – such as the introduction of Bots Mode, Bomb! Mode and Private Matches. In addition, there is talk of numerous planned improvements, including changes to the speed of Battle Pass progression, as well as improvements to cloak, player collision and footstep sounds – which will be made in parallel with ongoing work on netcode and hitreg.

Ubisoft's update follows a slump in its share price, which was partly blamed on lower than expected interest in XDefiant, and comes after players claimed the shooter was “rushed out.” Responding to the latter claim in July, XDefiant producer Mark Rubin insisted this was not the case, instead blaming the teething issues on a game engine “that was designed for something else,” and acknowledging “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 with it and you'll see things improve and new features added. But if the game isn't for you, that's fine, you can move on.”