Ubisoft has continued to expand and evolve the Tom Clancy universe over the past couple of years. While Rainbow Six Siege, The Division, and others continue to be incredibly popular, Ubisoft has begun to incorporate new ideas to freshen up the universe. For example, Rainbow Six Extraction takes cues from the Outbreak limited time event in Siege, forming a brand new game around 3 person cooperative mission structure, telling a story of Team Rainbow attempting to fight back against a biological threat.
Last month, leaked documents seemingly revealed another new evolution of the Tom Clancy franchise. Leakers revealed a new in-development Ubisoft game known as BattleCat, seemingly a first person multiplayer shooter that brought together factions from all over the Clancy franchise including Splinter Cell, The Division, and Ghost Recon. The leaked documents appeared to present a game similar to Overwatch with character getting access to abilities, an ultimate move, and game modes that included things like Escort which players very similar to what players do in Overwatch.
As it turns out, this leak was largely true as Ubisoft's teased Tom Clancy announcement over the weekend was revealed as a new FPS called XDefiant. The game is free-to-play and will feature two teams of 6 players each. The game is currently in development at Ubisoft San Francisco with Mark Rubin as executive producer and Jason Schroeder as creative director.
As expected, players have four factions to pick from with the Outcasts and Cleaners representing The Division, Echelon from Splinter Cell, and the Wolves from Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. As expected, Ubisoft is planning to add more over time, but for now, each faction comes with their own abilities and can be personalized by the player including weapon loadouts, attachments, devices, and more.
Two game modes were highlighted including the previously mentioned Escort as well as Domination. Ubisoft is promising a large pool of unique maps in rotation to help each match feel distinct from one another. Players will be able to go hands on with the game through a closed beta test on August 5 and those interested can register from the main XDefiant website for a shot to play early.
As of now, there's no planned release date for XDefiant as the developer seems intent on utilizing player feedback to ensure the game feels good out of the gate. The decision is likely a good one as Ubisoft was forced to recently postpone a couple of games including Rainbow Six Extraction. Originally planned for release in September, Extraction was pushed into January 2022 where the added months can be utilized to make sure the experience is more polished and brought to life in the way the team envisions it.
XDefiant is currently in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X.
