XDefiant needs to unbind itself from Tom Clancy to succeed

XDefiant is Ubisoft’s latest multiplayer title, a first-person hero-ish shooter that throws together characters from its multiple franchises into one big arena. I got the chance to play XDefiant, and one impression I formed is that Ubisoft is hamstringing itself by keeping the game so Tom Clancy-flavored. While it’s no longer branded as such, XDefiant still carries a heavy Clancy vibe that smothers its charms.

Ubisoft first announced the game in 2021, when it was called “Tom Clancy’s XDefiant.” It’s a multiplayer first-person shooter, where each player selects a character from a faction based on one of Ubisoft’s franchises. These include the Phantoms from Ghost Recon, Echelon from Splinter Cell, Yaran rebels from Far Cry, Cleaners from The Division and DedSec hackers from Watch Dogs.