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Ubisoft now says the free-to-play multiplayer shooter will feature factions from outside the Tom Clancy universe.
Tom Clancy’s XDefiant was introduced in 2021 as Ubisoft’s free-to-play answer to Call of Duty multiplayer: A 6v6 competitive military FPS featuring factions from Tom Clancy franchises Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, and The Division. The title didn’t exactly set the world on fire but the gameplay looked not bad; early beta tests ran in August 2021, and anyone interested was (and still is) able to sign up for future testing sessions, although none have been announced since.
That will apparently change in the near future, as Ubisoft has announced upcoming «Insider Sessions» for XDefiant that will enable members of the public to take part in testing sessions with and against developers. Testing will begin with a small number of participants on PC (exactly how many isn’t stated) and will expand to more players, and more platforms, as the tests progress.
Another interesting development revealed by the Insider Sessions announcement is that the Tom Clancy branding is gone. The game title, reflected in the logo, is now simply XDefiant, and Ubisoft said that the testing sessions will introduce «factions from games outside of the Tom Clancy universe. With these changes, the game will now be known as XDefiant.» Those factions will presumably be in addition to the existing Tom Clancy-based groups: The Echelon (Splinter Cell), the Wolves (Ghost Recon), the Cleaners (The Division), and the Outcasts (also The Division).
Here are the old and new XDefiant logos:
XDefiant isn’t the only Ubisoft game to kick off an Insiders program. Ubisoft also recently announced one for the long-overdue swashbuckling simulator Skull and Bones.
Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.
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