XDefiant boss Mark Rubin has today boldly proclaimed his Ubisoft shooter game is “absolutely not dying,” which sounds a whole lot like what you’d hear if the game was dying.
XDefiant‘s year one update arrived today, complete with a launch announcement for season two and a roadmap leading up through season four. That doesn’t seem to be what caught most peoples’ attention, though. Instead, buried in the update notes, executive producer Mark Rubin addressed concerns surrounding the title: “Is the game dying? No, the game is absolutely not dying,” Rubin says, noting there are improvements to make, but overall, the game’s doing well.
Rubin continued, saying that although XDefiant is okay, he and Ubisoft “just want it to do better.” The team behind the game seems to have plenty of work ahead, as the response has been quite mixed overall. There are plenty of fans who are reasonably hyped to see one of their favorite recent titles receiving the support it needs. Others, not so much.
XDefiant faces a major problem with its current playerbase, or suggested lack thereof. Some gamers would prefer the title to show up on Steam while others think the current rate of content updates is far too slow. Fans aren’t particularly interested in event challenges if they’re not frequent, looking forward to the daily rewards and prestige slated for season three instead. This is why some fans just think the game won’t make it. Prestige has been a valuable form of in-game progression to first-person-shooter players for a long time, and to many, not having it in the early release and then also lacking much of a replacement just kills the desire to engage.
Another big reason fans appear to be unsure about the game’s health is gamers don’t know how many people are really playing. When it launched, sources reported to Insider Gaming that XDefiant had achieved an exciting one million unique players. After that, it’s essentially guesswork outside follow-up reports, Rubin, and Ubisoft, who just want people to know the game isn’t dead yet. Sources like PlayerAuctions have estimated XDefiant’s player count using an “algorithm based on Google Trends,” which has people skeptical that it’s even vageuly accurate.
One big way XDefiant can ensure its survival is by issuing the updates players desperately want, and sooner. If the game doesn’t manage to make changes in time, fans and onlookers may just have to watch it go down in real-time. It’s difficult to stay afloat when there are so many live-service titles vying for player attention. With new games bombing left and right, players want proof the one they’re interested in is going to stick around before they get invested.
