Could Rayman or the panda from Just dance appear in XDefiant? I asked executive producer Mark Rubin and creative director Safy Saada about how they decide which Ubisoft games to add, and how much work it is to take characters from a franchise and put them into XDefiant’s fast-paced FPS world.
The recently released online shooter from Ubisoft, XDefiantmight at first glance look like call of Duty or other similar shooters. But one of the big differences between XDefiant and other games is the inclusion of characters, maps and cosmetics from other franchises published and developed by Ubisoft, such as Ghost Recon And Far away.
For example, the game’s launch season – called Season 0 – adds DedSec hackers from Watchdog into the game. I asked why these stupid computer geeks were added first XDefiant.
“If you look at all of our factions, you’ll notice that each of them has a specific core archetype, whether it’s defense, healing, or fire damage,” said Rubin. “We wanted to make sure that core group was available to the player. With DedSec and their disruption archetype, they really fit into that unlockable layer of factions that can be added.”
Why bad boys from The corporate division are in XDefiant
There are currently five factions in the game: Libertad from Far Cry 6Phantoms from Ghost Recon, Third season of Splinter groupThe cleaners from The corporate divisionand the already mentioned DedSec from Watchdog. It is definitely a strange line-up of characters, so I asked what Ubisoft and the XDefiant what the developers look for when deciding who to add to the game.
“First, we look at what we want to add gameplay-wise,” said Saada. “Once we identify the archetype we’re looking for, we look to see if it can be filled with the Ubisoft IPs we have.”
Saada also says that the team tried to incorporate things that players did not expect because the surprise can make it more fun XDefiant. That’s why the Cleaners, bad guys with flamethrowers from The corporate divisionare in play.
“Everyone has played as a Division Agent, but no one has played as a member of the Cleaners. Giving players these unique opportunities has helped make the Cleaners [in XDefiant]”, said Ruby.
And this idea of surprising players with unexpected factions is applied to the rest of the game as well.
“Is there something iconic that we can adopt from others? [Ubisoft] Games and developing new features from them? All of this plays a role in the decisions made,” said Saada.
And if you, like me, are wondering why XDefiant contains characters from a now defunct Ghost Recon Gameit all comes down to finding unique and “specific” skills that add new archetypes to the FPS.
“We have decided on the Ghost Recon Phantoms over any other game/faction because they had specific and iconic abilities that fit the archetype we wanted for them,” Saada said.
How weird will things get? XDefiant?
Of course I had to ask: Will XDefiant ever add Just dance Characters for the game? Or maybe Rabbids? Some previous leaksthe so far proved to be trueseem to suggest that these wilder inclusions could come in the future. And according to Rubin, nothing is “off the table” when it comes to what’s next in Ubisoft’s big, new cod-like FPS.
“That’s one of the most fun things about our game – this mosh pit of Ubisoft IPs. I would say nothing is really off limits,” said Rubin.
“But again, it has to fit the mechanics that we’ve developed. But other than that, we can do anything. For us, the whole point of all these different factions is to celebrate these IPs. Anything we can do, whether it’s through a faction, a map, skins, weapons, anything we take from other games is really a celebration of those games. And that’s what really stands out to me about XDefiant.”
Stay tuned for more from our interview with Ubisoft: XDefiantincluding the developers’ thoughts on bunny hopping, balancing a live game, and how the team creates its fan-favorite maps.
XDefiant is now available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. The next season starts on July 1st.
