Ubisoft's XDefiant Makes Huge Change

Ubisoft's XDefiant is making a significant change to its name. Ubisoft announced Tom Clancy's XDefiant to mixed reception in 2021, some felt it didn't separate itself from other shooters on the market like Call of Duty and others thought that the Tom Clancy branding was inappropriate for the less self-serious tone of the game. Given late author Tom Clancy made his name by writing stories about espionage, tactical teams of soldiers, and more, XDefiant came off as a strange way to invoke his name. Clancy's name has been used as a label for tons of original Ubisoft games, unrelated to his novels, but this stuck out more due to the whimsical tone and intense color scheme.

The reason Tom Clancy's name was attached was because the game features characters and settings from Ubisoft's various Tom Clancy-branded titles. Now, Ubisoft is dropping Tom Clancy's name from the XDefiant title after revealing the game will have characters outside of the Clancy IP. Ubisoft confirmed to Axios's Stephen Totilo that the Tom Clancy characters will still remain in the game. It's unclear which characters will be included, but it seems likely Ubisoft will pull from franchises like Watch Dogs. Ubisoft also announced new insider sessions for XDefiant meaning players can register to test the game. As of right now, the tests are limited to PC, but Ubisoft encourages everyone to sign up as it will eventually expand to consoles. Players can register here if they want to get in on the action.

In dropping the "Tom Clancy" from the name of their upcoming competitive shooter XDefiant, Ubisoft has also scrubbed the game's website of just about anything about the game.

A Ubisoft rep told me that the game will still include some Clancy factions along with non-Clancy ones pic.twitter.com/QfNU94FUut

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) March 17, 2022

Although Ubisoft has used the Tom Clancy branding on games like Rainbow Six Extraction, a title that features aliens and other unrealistic concepts, XDefiant has a completely different kind of tone. It'll be interesting to see which characters make an appearance in XDefiant. Even though the upcoming tests are under NDA, it wouldn't be surprising if some of these unannounced guest characters leak out. Rainbow Six Extraction had numerous leaks from its closed playtests, giving fans a very advanced look at the game.

Which Ubisoft characters would you like to see in XDefiant? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.