Last night’s Ubisoft Forward broadcast gave us our first real look at the first season of live-service content for XDefiant and it’s shaping up to be a pretty substantial update.
Most importantly, season one will introduce a whole new faction, GSK, who hail from Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. They will join the five existing factions, taking the total number in the game up to six. A brief reveal trailer, which was posted to the official XDefiant X / Twitter account during the show, hinted at some of the new faction’s potential special abilities. We saw a GSK operator wielding a large riot shield that was equipped with a flashlight capable of stunning foes and, later on, some deployed barbed wire was visible on the ground.
On top of the new faction, the arrival of season one will see the release of three new maps that are set to be added on a monthly basis. The maps are Clubhouse, Daytona, and Rockefeller. The addition of Clubhouse continues the broad Rainbow Six Siege theme of the season, being a popular competitive map in that game. These maps come alongside a new capture the flag game mode.
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Three new weapons are on the way too, with the trailer showing a new bolt-action sniper rifle in action. Season one will mark the introduction of ranked progression, allowing players to earn rewards from ranked play. There were hints of some of the new skins that are going to be added, including what appears to be a Skull and Bones inspired rifle complete with its own rigging and miniature wheel.
Of course, season one will also include the introduction of a new battle pass to work your way through. It's slated to launch in full on July 2, 2024.
A free-to-play crossover shooter, XDefiant is currently available for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5, and PC. To celebrate the broadcast, those who log in and play a match in the next 48 hours will unlock three free Eruption weapon skins so make sure to collect those if you’re an avid fan.
Dash is an experienced tech journalist who specializes in video games, electronic entertainment products, and the wider industry that surrounds them. He currently serves as the Gaming Editor at TechRadar, leading our review, preview, feature, and news coverage of the latest and greatest releases.
Before joining the team, he was Contributing Writer at PLAY (formerly Official PlayStation Magazine UK) and has written articles for many of the UK's other biggest gaming magazines including the likes of Edge, PC Gamer, and SFX.
Now, when he's not getting his greasy little mitts on the newest hardware or gaming gadget, he can be found listening to J-pop or feverishly devouring the latest Nintendo Switch otome.
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