History of XDefiant in Timeline

XDefiant, a free-to-play first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft San Francisco and published by Ubisoft, was released on May 21, 2024, for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. PC players can access the game exclusively through Ubisoft Connect.

July 2021: XDefiant Announcement

Ubisoft officially announced XDefiant in July 2021.

March 2022: Rebranding and Franchise Integration

In March 2022, XDefiant was rebranded as part of the Ubisoft Originals, removing "Tom Clancy's" from the title. The game is expected to integrate characters from various Ubisoft franchises.

February 2023: Second Insider Test

A second Insider test for XDefiant was held in February 2023.

April 2023: XDefiant's Popularity on Twitch

On April 17, 2023, soon after the closed beta launch, XDefiant became a trending game on Twitch, amassing around 50k viewers and surpassing the combined viewership of Warzone 2.0 and Modern Warfare II.

June 2023: Open Session, Public Test, and Delay

During the Ubisoft Forward presentation on June 12, 2023, an open session for XDefiant was announced. It began on June 20 for closed beta participants, June 21 for all players, and concluded on June 23. A PC-only Public Test Session followed from September 28 to September 29. Initially planned for an early-to-mid October release, XDefiant was delayed. The delay was announced by director Mark Rubin, citing "inconsistencies in the game experience" observed during testing.