XDefiant devs fix netcode issues, add new party system—but release date remains a mystery

The new year has arrived and with it, another update on the progress of the heavily-delayed FPS XDefiant. Among bug fixes and the addition of a new party and social system, there’s still a glaring omission from the update: a concrete launch date.

XDefiant executive producer Mark Rubin provided the update on Jan. 2, announcing the team was back in the office to continue pushing toward a release. Primarily, Rubin provided news on the progress of development, stating a pesky netcode issue discovered late in 2023 had been fixed. “We have addressed the weird issues affecting netcode and we will continue to improve and test our netcode before and after launch,” Rubin said.

Rubin also said the XDefiant team had begun implementing a new party system—a pain point identified during the game’s previous open beta. Fortunately, it sounds like the party system is close to fixed: “[We] are now putting [the system] through rigorous testing and bug fixing as we get ready for launch,” Rubin added.

Once again, however, Rubin failed to indicate when players will be able to get their hands on the much-anticipated shooter, revealing he and the team had more news and features to show “in the next couple of weeks” in the lead-up to the game’s launch.

Roadblock after roadblock is seemingly preventing the launch of XDefiant, and as a result, keen fans are finding their interest is waning, especially after multiple content releases for rival Call of Duty and the unexpected launch and success of THE FINALS, which has been quite popular.

XDefiant, meanwhile, was originally supposed to have launched in late summer 2023, but near-constant bugs, a polarizing open beta test, and then problematic server stability issues meant the game missed that date. These issues continued to plague the title through to December, with the Ubisoft team forced to delay the title into 2024.

Given Rubin’s phrasing, here’s hoping the news in the next couple of weeks—plus the extra time the game has needed to improve—includes a solid window for the game’s release, as XDefiant fans are beginning to turn to rival titles instead.