Ubisoft finally launched its long-in-development free-to-play shooter xDefiant in May. However, unconfirmed rumors during the summer claimed that, after a strong start, the game was losing a significant number of online players.
Today, Ubisoft revealed the first details for the Season 2 update for xDefiant. It also took some time to address the rumors that the game was in trouble.
In a blog post, Ubisoft said:
No, the game is absolutely not dying. We know there are things we need to improve like Netcode/Hitreg and adding more content to progression, but the game is doing well. We just want it to do better. And we do that by addressing the concerns of our community which has always been the plan. Ubisoft is very much behind us and has allocated more resources to the team in order for us to do that.
In a separate blog post, Ubisoft revealed the details for Season 2 of the game. That includes a new faction called The Highwaymen. They are inspired by characters and settings from an earlier game, Far Cry: New Dawn. Three new weapons will also be unlocked in Season 2 for people who purchase the Season Pass for the game.
Later in Season 2, Ubisoft will add the new Bomb mode for the game. In this mode, one team takes a bomb to a specific part of a map and tries to keep it ticking until it goes off. Obviously, the other teams are trying to capture and defuse that bomb. The first team that wins six rounds wins the overall Bomb match.
Also coming in Season 2 is the long-awaited private matches feature. Ubisoft says:
You"ll be able to select the map, mode (both Ranked and Unranked iterations), and how many players you want in your lobby. In private matches, you can roll with the standard 6v6 (or 4v4 in Ranked) party size, or customize to 1v1, 2v2, or trios.
Season 2 will also add a new map called Waterfront, which will again be based on Far Cry: New Dawn"s setting of Hope County, Montana.