‘XDefiant’ delay isn’t down to devs trying to copy modern ‘Call Of Duty’ games

XDefiant’s executive producer has hit back at reports that the first-person shooter has been delayed due to devs trying to copy modern Call Of Duty games.

• READ MORE: ‘Dragon’s Dogma 2’ is a Game Of The Year contender – and it’s all thanks to grabbing

First announced in 2021, XDefiant is a 6v6 multiplayer shooter that brings together characters from various Ubisoft franchises like The Division, Rainbow Six Siege and Splinter Cell.

XDefiant launched an open beta at the start of 2023 but the game was delayed indefinitely in September, after failing a number of console quality control tests.

“I know it’s a bummer that we are moving the date especially since we seemed so close and that for many the game is great and they can’t wait to play but I’d rather ship a game that is better for everyone,” said executive producer Mark Rubin at the time.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the continued delays to XDefiant were down to the team “chasing” Call Of Duty and copying features found in Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone.

However, Rubin has hit back at those claims, calling them a “major eyeroll”.

Just FYI, nothing about our delay is due to any new features. In fact not much has changed from a gameplay standpoint. The delay has been due to the tech issues we’ve talked about. Whoever said chasing CoD in Tom’s report was major eyeroll. 😀

— Mark Rubin (@PixelsofMark) March 23, 2024

“FYI, nothing about our delay is due to any new features. In fact not much has changed from a gameplay standpoint. The delay has been due to the tech issues we’ve talked about,” he wrote on social media.

“We’ve said in the past that we were aiming at a different time in first-person shooter history. i.e. older Call Of Duty games. So are we ‘chasing’ older Call Of Duty games?  [Yes] to some degree but we don’t want to be like what the newer Call Of Duty titles are like,” he continued.

Rubin went on to say that an update on the release date for XDefiant should be coming this week.  “I know we’ve been silent because to be honest there isn’t much to talk about. I know people just want to see the game ship and so do we,” he explained, with the team working on “major technical issues” that appeared with the scaling of the game.

“I can’t wait to ship just so we don’t have to talk about ship dates anymore and we can talk about more important stuff like gameplay balancing or new content/modes/maps,” he added.

In other news, Capcom has shared the patch notes for the first update to Dragon’s Dogma 2, which will hopefully improve graphics and character customisation.