Despite a rocky beginning, XDefiant still managed to surpass Ubisoft’s previous record for the most unique players at launch.
Releasing a game like XDefiant, a first-person shooter, in a market that is primarily controlled by Call of Duty presents a significant obstacle. The success of the game largely depends on the caliber of gameplay, the reliability of the servers, and the implementation of a strong anti-cheat system.
Despite facing significant server problems during its launch on May 21, XDefiant broke Ubisoft’s previous record for the highest number of unique players shortly after its release, with one million players joining within just two and a half hours, according to a report by Insider Gaming.
Despite encountering server problems on launch day, the game still managed to attract half a million concurrent players at its peak. However, this left many players waiting on the main menu to access the game. Fortunately, the development team was able to resolve the issue a few hours later, allowing most FPS fans to finally experience the free-to-play title.
XDefiant managed to surpass over three million unique players across all platforms since its release.
This milestone has solidified XDefiant as the quickest Ubisoft game to amass one million unique players. In contrast, it took Respawn’s battle royale game Apex Legends about eight hours to reach the same milestone after its launch in 2019, which is nearly six hours longer than Ubisoft’s FPS.
According to the report, Ubisoft is satisfied with the current state of the game and the title is on track to surpass all internal milestones in terms of player numbers. Within the first 48 hours, XDefiant attracted over three million unique players and maintained an average of 300,000 concurrent players across all platforms.
Attracting numerous players, the free-to-play model has always been successful. However, to sustain this popularity, the XDefiant developers have revealed their plans for the Year 1 roadmap. This includes introducing new Factions, weapons, and cosmetic options, as well as launching a comprehensive Ranked Play mode. These efforts aim to cater to a diverse audience within the game’s first year.
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