XDefiant developer tells fans to play something else if they don’t like it

GameCentralPublished Jul 8, 2024, 10:13am|Updated Jul 8, 2024, 10:30am

XDefiant key art — XDefiant – maybe come back later (Ubisoft)

The producer of free-to-play shooter XDefiant has suggested that ‘you can move on’ if you find the game’s bugs too annoying.

Longevity is the biggest problem when it comes to live service games looking to be the next Fortnite or Apex Legends but Ubisoft’s XDefiant has got off to a generally good start, with lots of praise for its first person action and even some positive comparisons to Call Of Duty.

However, like most online games, it has been riven by bugs and glitches, which has made it frustrating to play at times. The developers are obviously aware of this, and producer Mark Rubin has been surprisingly honest about the situation.

As a result he’s said that anyone frustrated by the problems is free to just go and play something else, and perhaps come back later when the issues are addressed.

‘What we have is an engine that has only ever been an MMO. And so all of the infrastructure for an FPS has had to be built up from the ground floor. Even CoD started on ID tech which was a shooter engine. Apex started on a shooter engine. But for us we are working on developing all new tech in an engine that was designed for something else,’ said Rubin on Twitter, replying to a fan who asked whether the game had been ‘rushed out.’

‘That being said the engine is really great, but it does require a lot of work and with that work comes a lot of bugs that other engines have already worked out. We’re not a shooter that’s been out for 20 years. If you like what we are trying to do stick around and you’ll see things improve and new features get added. But if the game isn’t for you that’s OK you can move on.’

XDefiant is built on the Snowdrop engine, originally created by Massive Entertainment for The Division but which has since been used in a wide variety of Ubisoft games, from Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and South Park: The Fractured But Whole to Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora and the upcoming Star Wars Outlaws.

Rushed out? No. What we have is an engine that has only ever been an MMO. And so all of the infrastructure for an FPS has had to be built up from the ground floor. Even CoD started on ID tech which was a shooter engine. Apex started on a shooter engine. But for us we are workingâ¦
— Mark Rubin (@PixelsofMark) July 5, 2024

The engine has allowed for some very impressive looking games over the years, especially Frontiers Of Pandora, but XDefiant has suffered from a variety of problems, varying from animation hiccups to hit detection errors and the expected online connection issues.

Rubin made his comments following the launch of the game’s Season One update, which although it addresses some problems – as well as adding new maps, weapons, and a ranked mode – has not fixed everything.

In fact, apart from just the bugs, the ranked mode has been criticised for being rushed, as fans complain that it still features overpowered weapons and equipment like spider drones, that they would’ve expected to have been removed for the mode.

Nevertheless, Rubin’s honest is likely to endear him to the community and encourage them to stick with the game, despite the fact that he’s technically advising the opposite.