Following player feedback, XDefiant executive producer Mark Rubin announced some new changes to make progression easier. He also confirmed plans to introduce ranked play in Season 1 of Ubisoft’s crossover first-person shooter.
What’s changing in XDefiant?
Many XDefiant players were unhappy about recent changes making it take much longer to grind for Weapon Mastery skins. In response to this feedback, developers are halving the XP players’ need to progress to the next level from 30,000 to 15,000. “The levels that you need to get to unlock a mastery skin are staying the same,” he explained, “but the net effect is that this will revert the change we made but keep the 14% speed increase.” Players will also see their levels increase retroactively after the new changes go into effect. He didn’t know when that would be but said it would be “very soon.”
Hey All,We have been listening to players about the changes to progression. So, for those with a short attention span (not judging) here is the last page of the book and then I’ll go into reasoning and philosophy.We are changing the the speed at which you rank up each level.…— Mark Rubin (@PixelsofMark) June 21, 2024
Rubin went on to explain exactly how the Ubisoft game ended up in this situation. “Let me point out something that is very obvious; the main grind we have in game right now is Weapon Mastery.” Ubisoft is working to change that, with Rubin mentioning ranked play as one way of doing that. The studio is also working on other ways for players to grind for rewards, which will roll out in future updates.
Until then, however, Weapon Mastery is the main thing keeping XDefiant players coming back. Ubisoft San Franciso was worried that players were going through it too quickly and tried to pump the breaks a bit. However, Rubin says that the studio now realizes that attempting to do so was a mistake.