Ubisoft's COD-Like Shooter XDefiant Is Unplayable For Many On Launch Day

Ubisoft's brand-new Call of Duty-like shooter XDefiant, which was designed in part by former longtime Call of Duty boss Mark Rubin, launched today--and it encountered major issues right out of the gate.

Players are reporting that they are unable to join matches in the free-to-play game. Ubisoft said in response, "Please bear with us while we look into servers and matchmaking!" Rubin, for his part, posted a silly GIF on social media with the caption, "Matchmaking servers go boom!" He said the team is working to address the problems.

Rubin works remotely from Los Angeles but flew into San Francisco to be with the XDefiant team for the game's launch today, May 21.

XDefiant has been years in the making and has faced a long and challenging road to release. The game was seemingly almost ready to launch in 2023 before it was delayed indefinitely, and then later reassigned a release date in May.

XDefiant is out now and is in the midst of a "preseason" event before Season 1 begins later this year. The preseason includes five factions from various Ubisoft's games. The first four are the Cleaners, Libertad, Echelon, and Phantoms, which will be available to everyone immediately. The fifth faction, Dedsec, will be available to unlock or purchase. The preseason also includes 14 maps, five game modes, and 24 weapons. While most game modes will be 6v6, the preseason will also include a 4v4 ranked practice playlist, which includes the same rules as the real ranked mode coming in Season 1.

As a free-to-play game, XDefiant makes money from microtransactions. Ubisoft recently clarified that while the game allows players to buy all manner of cosmetic items, there are no pay-to-win mechanics.