XDefiant, Ubisoft’s new free-to-play shooter that’s been quietly cooking away with the help of a ton of early player testing, should apparently have launched as early as last month, but a rejection from both Xbox and PlayStation in getting the game on their platforms has caused it to be pushed back.
The publisher has been very upfront about what’s going on behind the scenes with this, posting an update that explains the certification process in a level of detail we rarely hear about and clarifying what went wrong in getting the game out there, as well as what to expect next.
The lengthy post (which you can read here if you want all of the juicy behind-the-scenes details) explains that, while XDefiant would have launched in late August had it passed first-party certification as expected, the game was rejected by both Xbox and PlayStation for not meeting their compliance standards – the routine checks that ensure a game will work as expected according to each platform’s features and standards at launch. The company has since spent the weeks following rectifying the issues raised and will resubmit, in the hopes that XDefiant receives either a Pass or a Conditional Pass (requiring the promise of a Day 1 patch).
As for when XDefiant is now expected to launch, Ubisoft says if all goes according to plan during its resubmission that a new date should land somewhere in the vicinity of early-to-mid October.
“If we were following the standard rules for game releases, we would have set a date far enough in advance with enough buffer to have a confident release date,” says Director Mark Rubin in the post.
“However, like a lot of things with this game, we have not chosen the typical route. Having millions of people play your game long before it’s ready is not normal. Not being afraid to show an unfinished game to millions of people with all its flaws is not normal. These were real tests and not just marketing events. So, when it comes to when we will release the real answer is ‘as soon as we can.’ And we will continue to update you with more info when we have it.”
