Ubisoft’s free-to-play, first-person arena shooter, XDefiant, has quickly become one of the most popular PvP combat video games in the world. Even in the pre-season phase, the game has managed to keep the players hooked with its unique factions, weapons, maps, and gameplay. The game features characters and maps from other popular Ubisoft titles and fans are expecting to see more in the future, particularly from Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia franchise.
Currently, the game has five factions: Libertad from Far Cry 6, Phantoms from Ghost Recon, Third Echelon from Splinter Cell, The Cleaners from The Division, and DedSec from Watch Dogs. A new faction called GSK will be available in the game when the first season kicks off. Safy Saada, Creative Director at Ubisoft, explained that they add characters by first understanding what they want to add gameplay-wise.
Ubisoft should integrate the Prince of Persia franchise into XDefiant
XDefiant is Ubisoft’s biggest crossover episode to this day, as many characters from different Ubisoft titles are a part of the game and many more are expected to be added in the future. In a recent interview with Kotaku, Safy Saada, Creative Director at Ubisoft, explained how they identify which character they want to add to the game,
First, we look at what we want to add gameplay-wise – Once we identify the archetype we’re looking for, we look to see if that can be filled through the Ubisoft IPs that we have.
Since Saada confirmed that they have access to all Ubisoft IPs, it means that they can also pick up characters from the Prince of Persia franchise. It would be an exciting addition since 2003’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is getting a remake that will be released in 2026.
Ubisoft will add 4 new factions in Year 1
At the 2023 Ubisoft Forward, it was revealed that after the pre-season, they will roll out a new season every 3 months, so in Year 1, players will get 4 seasons in total which will include 4 factions, 12 weapons, and 12 maps. XDefiant‘s season 1 starts July 2, 2024, introducing the GSK faction and three new maps.
The GSK faction introduces operators of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, that focus on tactical coordination and use strategic gadgets. Mark Rubin, Executive Producer at Ubisoft, recently revealed that a 1-life game mode called Bomb! is also being added to the game since players have been consistently asking Ubisoft to add this sooner. Apart from this, three new maps and Capture the Flag game mode will also be added in season 1.
XDefiant is available on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.
