‘Tom Clancy’s XDefiant’: Everything you need to know

XDefiant is an upcoming shooter that includes characters from Ubisoft franchises like The Division, Rainbow Six Siege and Splinter Cell.

First announced all the way back in 2021, the game is a 6v6 multiplayer shooter where players will use customised weapons, unique abilities, and traits to earn a hard-fought victory.

With a host of new details revealed recently, including crossovers from other Ubisoft games, here’s everything you need to know about XDefiant.

XDefiant release date and platforms

XDefiant will be free-to-play when it launches, meaning players can jump in at no cost. Unfortunately, no release date has been given yet, but there will likely be more news this year.

The game will be available on PC and PS5 PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Amazon Luna. While there’s no official release date, Ubisoft has announced a new closed testing period for XDefiant will begin on April 13, and run until April 23. This is only available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.

XDefiant trailers

The first trailer for XDefiant was launched on July 19, 2021, giving players a first look at what the game will involve. The trailer showcases crossovers with other Ubisoft games, including factions from The Division, Far Cry, Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon.

The latest can be seen below. It gives a deep-dive on the gameplay at the core of XDefiant, which involves tense, 6v6 objective-focused skirmishes.

What factions will be available at launch?

Players will be able to choose from five different factions – the Cleaners, Phantoms, Libertad, DedSec and Echelon – at launch.

These five factions will be familiar to many fans of the Tom Clancy franchise. The Cleaners are from The Division, while The Phantoms are from Ghost Recon. DedSec are from Watch Dogs,  and Libertad are from Far Cry. Finally, Echelon is a group from the Splinter Cell series.

Producer Kim Weigend has stated that the factions bring class-based gameplay. The Wolves will be a tank class with higher health than other factions and “abilities that are shield based”.

The Cleaners will be a “high DPS assault class”, while Echelon will be a support-based faction, which will be all about “hiding information from the enemies and giving more information to teammates”.

Ubisoft notes that they will “keep adding to our cast of Defiants as the game evolves, drawing on a range of characters and abilities from the Clancy universe and beyond.”

Abilities, weapon customisation and skins in XDefiant

Each faction will have its own set of passive traits, ‘ultra’ abilities, and “the freedom to choose from a number of different abilities” according to producer Kim Weigend.

She has also confirmed that each Defiant – playable characters in these factions – will come with a set of skins, though it’s unknown if players will need to earn or buy them.

Unlike many competitive games, XDefiant will allow players to change their Defiants, faction, abilities and loadouts upon respawning in a match. This is to ensure that players “are not committed to a loadout as soon as you go into a match”, which Weigand feels will add more competitive depth to the game.

How to play XDefiant in closed beta

The latest chance to play XDefiant runs from April 13, up until April 23, 2023. Note that servers are set to close at 11PM PT (6AM in UK time).

If you want to play XDefiant in closed beta. You can register “for a chance to enter the future live phases” for any console at the XDefiant website. Currently, the closed beta is only being offered up to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S players.

As we hear more about the game, we’ll be sure to update this page with everything we know. For now, you can check out what we thought of the closed beta preview for XDefiant.