Tom Clancy’s XDefiant revealed by Ubisoft as free-to-play shooter

Ubisoft has fully revealed Tom Clancy’s XDefiant, following its teaser reveal over the weekend. This new, free-to-play FPS from Ubisoft San Francisco is still in its early stages of development, with testing phases to begin next month.

The high-level pitch given to us during the reveal stream is that XDefiant is “fast-paced gunfights meets punk rock mosh pit.” The game certainly has a different vibe to most Tom Clancy titles, especially compared to Ubisoft’s other core FPS series, Rainbow Six. XDefiant is a little looser, with a vibe that feels more like Rage 2 than Call of Duty.

It does have roots in the latter series, though. Executive Producer Mark Rubin, a familiar face in the FPS scene, opened up the show. Rubin was formerly part of the Infinity Ward Team during Call of Duty‘s early days. He’d been a part of that team since CoD2, but became a more public figure during the reveal of 2011’s Modern Warfare 3.

Rubin is hoping to instill some Call of Duty sensibility into Tom Clancy’s XDefiant. The developer is making tight FPS gunplay its top focus, along with a focus on 6v6 arena matches. Weapons and attachments are modern-era and “authentic,” again speaking to the producer’s past.

Modern influences

However, this isn’t a barebones, classic shooter. Factions are set to play a huge role in XDefiant, with squads of soldiers featuring different themes, gadgets and abilities. Based on “Tom Clancy’s games and beyond,” four Factions been revealed so far. These are Echelon, Outcasts, Cleaners and Wolves, although each Faction’s specific abilities weren’t detailed here.

Of course, the amount of Factions, and other content, won’t be limited to what’s available at launch. Ubisoft San Francisco already has a post-launch plan in place, that includes the addition of more Factions down the line. The exact nature of this plan hasn’t been revealed, but we’d guess the battle pass model won’t be far off it.

Tom Clancy’s XDefiant doesn’t have a solid release date yet, but full cross-play is expected when it does launch. The first testing phase for XDefiant kicks off on August 5. If you’re in the US or Canada, you can register now.