Highlights
- Ubisoft is addressing XDefiant weapon grind complaints with changes to XP gain speed.
- Players criticized increased grind for weapon levels, prompting Ubisoft to double speed.
- Future updates will reduce XP needed to level up weapons, making unlocking skins easier.
Ubisoft has acknowledged player complaints about the grind in its recently-released shooter XDefiant. To rectify the issues, which were partially introduced by a previous update, the company announced major changes to the XDefiant Weapon XP grind.
XDefiant made waves in May 2024 as a new free-to-play arena shooter, but it wasn't without its share of player complaints. Many complaints centered around the slow speed of XDefiant weapon level gains, which Ubisoft attempted to address with an update on June 18, 2024. The update decreased the amount of Weapon XP required to level up a weapon, but also added more Weapon Mastery levels, thus increasing the total amount of work needed to unlock a weapon's Gold, Silver, and Bronze skins.
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The change prompted backlash from players resenting the increase in grind to level their best XDefiant weapons, and Ubisoft has heard their feedback. According to a post from the official XDefiant Twitter account, the company will implement further adjustments that essentially double the speed of Weapon Level gain for all players.
XDefiant Teases Future Boosts to Weapon XP Gain
According to Ubisoft's preview of the next set of changes targeted at Weapon Mastery levels, Primary weapons will require just 1,500 XP to level up (down from 3,000) and secondary weapons will require just 500 XP to level up (down from 1,000). This should make it much easier to unlock the much-desired weapon skins for the many weapons present in XDefiant. Ubisoft did not say when the new changes would be implemented.
XDefiant Executive Producer Mark Rubin had more to add, revealing that the adjustments to Weapon Mastery will also be retroactive, meaning that all players will receive a "big bump" in their current level, due to their accumulated Weapon XP counting for more. Rubin said that the team "feared" players would finish the Weapon Mastery grind too quickly and thus the rewards from it would feel "less special," but conceded that the team had made a mistake in making changes to progression while the game was live, devaluing the effort players had already put in.
Between the changes to both mechanics and progression and leaks that present a compelling picture of future XDefiant factions, the future could be looking bright for the game and its current fans. Ubisoft has displayed a high level of responsiveness so far to player feedback, which bodes well for ensuring that the game can stick with its community as time goes on.
XDefiant
Ubisoft's XDefiant is an online PvP shooter that focuses on fast-paced team-based gameplay. Taking inspiration from the publisher's popular IPs, the game features factions and characters that represent franchises like Splinter Cell and Far Cry. Available on most modern systems, XDefiant is a free-to-play project.
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- May 21, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Ubisoft San Francisco
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Mild Language, Violence
