In a strange turn for Ubisoft, they have delayed a game because it failed certification with Sony and Xbox.
The game in question is XDefiant, a free-to-play FPS that originally had the Tom Clancy name attached to it. Its original name was actually introduced to the public as Rainbow Six: XDefiant. It was conceived of as a Smash Bros like crossover game, bringing in characters from various Tom Clancy video games.
After negative feedback from players for using the Tom Clancy name without his direct involvement, or any clear association to his works, Ubisoft removed the Tom Clancy and Rainbow Six branding, spinning it off as its own game. Ubisoft also expanded the idea to be even more Smash Bros like, adding in even more of their IPs outside Tom Clancy’s franchise.
As of right now, the big game in the Rainbow Six franchise remains Rainbow Six Siege, a major competitive online shooter. That game’s extraction mode was spun off into its own game, Rainbow SixExtraction, released last year.
Ubisoft seemed to have really just wanted to release a new free-to-play FPS of their own, but at least this one is more likely to succeed than Roller Champions. The most recent news we reported about this game were the closed beta signups last April.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, XDefiant’s executive producer Mark Rubin published a letter explaining the delay was caused by compliance bugs. In his words:
“Compliance bugs are ones that relate to the systems and overall experience that the first parties expect from games on their platform. (e.g., Are trophies being properly tracked, is my friend’s list being properly updated with game status, etc.)”
Ubisoft San Francisco is sending an updated version of XDefiant to Sony and Microsoft for certification shortly. Mark explains further that they could get a conditional pass; AKA, they could be allowed to publish the game, but with a Day 1 patch to make sure the final version of the game complies with Sony’s and Microsoft’s standards.
If this is the route that they go, Mark says that they expect to publish the game by October.
While XDefiant has potential, as a big original game from a big veteran company like Ubisoft, its prospects aren’t too great for an October release. Multiple big titles are still slated to come out that month, including one big game from each console company (Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros Wonder, and Forza Motorsport). September has been loaded as well, of course, but Ubisoft may simply want to get a game out now, and improve on its visibility later.
XDefiant will be released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows via Ubisoft Connect.
