Transcribed from the video:
Is XDefiant dead on arrival? The most recent play test just wrapped up and after almost seven months since the last one, I think a lot of gamers were a little disappointed by the progress and level of polish in its current state. But it’s not all doom and gloom (no, not that Doom) and there were some bright spots. So did the delays and empty hype sink the ship before it even set sail?
Mark Rubin was an executive producer at Infinity Ward during its heyday for Call of Duty 4, Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, and Ghosts, and now he’s at Ubisoft Montreal trying to launch a new arena shooter that is specifically designed to feel more like those Call of Duty classics. It’s main selling points from the beginning have been persistent lobbies, classic minimaps, fluid movement, and Skill Based Matchmaking as it existed 10-15 years ago vs. what it’s become today. Needless to say, fans were super excited and the hype train went into full throttle in the summer of 2023.
All this stuff was announced back when the new Modern Warfare 2 was out and had done away with the minimap, had very restrictive movement, an d had shifted from skill based matchmaking into a very heavy-handed version of Engagement Based Matchmaking, which means the lobbies are stacked to in a way to encourage more frustration with the occasional reward, which in turn actually leads to longer play sessions.
But that was over a year ago, and not only has XDefiant had delay after delay without any real release date to target, but to make matters worse Call of Duty has actually seen some improvements, at least in the areas XDefiant has been targeting.
So is there any hope?
Test Results
First of all, let’s talk about the state of the game now in April, 2024. It’s been a while since we’ve seen it, and I have to say my initial impressions were… well… let’s say I was whelmed. I wasn’t underwhelmed, I wasn’t overwhelmed, I guess I was just a little surprised it wasn’t more polished at this point. It didn’t feel much different than the first play test almost a year ago, and a lot of the weapons and abilities still feel pretty unbalanced.
At first I thought the net code and hit detection was still broken, and I saw a lot of people complain about this on Reddit. But after messing with the control settings in the practice area, I don’t think it’s a problem with hit detection, I think the hit boxes are just super tight and the aim assist is really low. I can only assume this is on purpose, with the intent of creating a bigger skill gap. I only played it on a console with a controller, so if you played it with a mouse and keyboard I’d love to hear your thoughts.
But with a controller I was struggling a bit with precise aiming. I’m not a pro gamer, and I don’t expect to perform like a pro, but I do expect to get on target pretty quickly. Maybe my skills have been diluted from the generous aim assist in Call of Duty, but I think they have some tweaking to do in the aiming controls. I played with different settings, and I was using and Xbox Elite 2 controller so I played with those settings as well. I tried just about every combination of settings and response curves… and it just never felt right.
On the other hand, movement felt fine to me: somewhere between the clunky lumbering around in Modern Warfare 2 and zipping around like mosquito in some other CoD games. It felt fluid, but the movement certainly didn’t feel like a standout feature—unless you’re like me and hate seeing people sliding and bunny hopping constantly.
There were limited game modes in the test, which is understandable, and there was just enough there to make me excited to see the full list when it launches. The escort mode was my favorite, and there were some really hotly contested matches. The rest of the modes in the test were some form of Domination, and I found myself in a lot of matches where I was the only player doing the objectives, so I’m really hoping there will be a straight up team deathmatch in final game for the players that are just worried about their K/D.
As for the matchmaking? I’d say there was an even distribution of lobbies that were evenly matched vs lopsided lobbies—unlike Call of Duty that has lopsided lobbies way more often. There were a few times I found myself on a fun and competitive server, and most of us stayed on for several matches in a row. It was honestly a breath of fresh air and something I haven’t experienced in years. That’s the stuff I’m looking for, and it gives me hope that the game still has a chance. That’s assuming, of course, there will be enough players with as much hope.
We don’t have any stats on how many people played in each of the public play tests, but I assume interest in the game is quite a bit lower now than it was last year. So what went wrong?
Too Much Hype, Too Soon?
There was a lot of excitement around this game back in 2023, and it was the buzzword a lot disgruntled Call of Duty players would pass around after they were done plodding and stomping around in concrete boots in Modern Warfare 2. But outside of some screenshots and a teaser trailer, the marketing for the game hasn’t even started yet. All of the hype has come from a player base hungry for that classic CoD feel.
Ubisoft Montreal hasn’t marketed the game at all, as far as I can tell. Marketing machines take time to ramp up: media has to be purchased, assets have to be created, the whole 9 yards, and it doesn’t make much sense to do all of that without a release date.
It’s safe to say they’ve had some release windows in mind internally, but they’ve never announced anything publicly. So when the 2nd play test had some pretty serious issues with hit detection and lag, it was clear the game needed to go back into the oven for a bit. Mark Rubin was pretty quick to announce the entire net code for the game needed to be rebuilt from the ground up. This is a free-to-play shooter, after all, and the opening week of the game could actually make or break it, so clearly it’s better to get it right even it if that means a delay.
I mean, that’s what we always say when a game is broken at launch, right? Why didn’t you just delay the game? But with XDefiant, it might be a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.
Did They Miss the Window?
The apex of Call of Duty frustration was last year, just before Modern Warfare 3 launched. Now Modern Warfare 3 has a bunch of problems, specifically in the Campaign, but it did bring back the mini map and quicker movement speeds and fluidity. That’s 2 out of the 4 selling points for XDefiant, right there. And a few months after launch, Modern Warfare 3 even brought back persistent lobbies, sort of. It’s weird, you have to opt-in to the same lobby instead of staying on by default. So that’s 3 out of 4 selling points. For the last one, is there any chance Activision will remove Engagement Optimized Matchmaking from Call of Duty?
No. No, there’s no chance of that. There’s a link in the comments about why EOMM works for publishers even though it sucks for players, and there’s too much money in the veins for Activision to move away from it. So classic Skill Based Matchmaking is still a selling feature for XDefiant.
It seems like the best time to have launched would’ve been last fall before Modern Warfare 3 hit the shelves and solved at least some of the problems players had with Modern Warfare 2. But next to that, I’d argue it might actually be good not to go head-to-head with the marketing behemoth that is Call of Duty. Launching this summer would put it right in the lull before the next Call of Duty, which is being developed by… well, Treyarch. Hmmm, that’s not good.
Enter Black Ops Gulf War
I have no doubt this year’s Call of Duty will be better than last year’s. It’s no secret Sledgehammer was thrown under the bus and asked to convert their Modern Warfare 2 DLC into a full-fledged standalone sequel with less than a year before release. And it was a valiant effort, but the rush-job is obvious and the game has felt undercooked up until recently, when original maps finally started trickling out.
But Treyarch, on the other hand, has been the most consistent Call of Duty developer and they’ve had this one in the oven for 4 years—the most ever for an individual Call of Duty title.
This might sound like a death sentence for XDefiant, but hold up. XDefiant could still get this thing out the door in early summer before the next CoD hype ramps up, and I don’t see any way Activision moves away from Engagement Optimized Matchmaking in any Call of Duty game in the foreseeable future. That means a classic Skill Based Matchmaking system can still stand out if it’s done right. XDefiant may no longer have a leg up in movement and mini maps, but there’s still hope it will bring back the fun and competitive lobbies we all remember from the late 2000s.
And for a video about XDefiant, why are we talking about Call of Duty so much?
Heeding the Call
XDefiant has dropped the ball with a lot of gamers, but that has more to do with the frustrations with Call of Duty than the genuine excitement for XDefiant. And I got news for ya: some of the frustrations with CoD show no signs of going away, so that door will always be a little open.
So is it a CoD killer? No, not even close. After all, this is only an arena shooter with no campaign, or warzone, or zombies. But it doesn’t have to be. If it can give me a taste of classic CoD, with some modern touches like the escort mode ripped straight from Overwatch, and I’ll be there. I hope they revisit the hotboxes and aiming, but overall I’m excited to see what this thing looks like at launch.
if the game is able to recapture even a fraction of what it was like to play Call of Duty it its heyday, then this thing is going to make a splash and find an audience no matter when it comes out.
In a perfect world, XDefiant would’ve been solid and polished and launched last year. They would’ve swooped in to hit all those spurned Call of Duty gamers on the rebound. But it’s not too late, and at the end of the day, if the game is able to recapture even a fraction of what it was like to play Call of Duty it its heyday, then this thing is going to make a splash and find an audience no matter when it comes out.
Now, to learn more about why players hate EOMM, even if they don’t know about it, check out my video about how Call of Duty, and games like it, are tricking you into playing more (and spending more money) and be sure to like and subscribe somewhere along the way.
And thanks for watching!
