Yesterday came a surprise announcement from Ubisoft stating that today there would be a live event to reveal a new Tom Clancy's game. Many fans of the series hoped would be a sequel or reboot for the Splinter Cell franchise, but this wasn't the case. The new game is called Tom Clancy's XDefiant, a 6v6 arena combat first-person shooter with varied loadouts and abilities depending on faction. There are four factions in the game, and they are each inspired by other games set in the Tom Clancy universe, comprising of Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, and The Division.
The one faction based on Splinter Cell is the Echelon, labeled as a support class that can manipulate information in a few ways such as gaining invisibility. Then, there are the Wolves from Ghost Recon games, who are naturally prone to be good tanks and can create barriers that soak up damage while allowing allied players to shoot through them. Both the Cleaners and the Outcasts are based on existing factions in Ubisoft's The Division, with the former being an assault class with a natural affinity for setting enemies on fire, and the latter being capable with guns and healing devices.
What Tom Clancy's XDefiant Offers
Tom Clancy's XDefiant is not something the community is new to, as there were leaks about a game called BattleCat which was supposed to feature locations and characters from different Tom Clancy's games. That is precisely what XDefiant does with its faction system, and the maps shown in fragments of gameplay do have elements from other games from Ubisoft. For example, there is a New York map with plenty of elements coming from The Division and more like it, all mixed with technicolor and both indoors and outdoors sections for more a varied gameplay experience.
Furthermore, the general tone for Tom Clancy's XDefiant is those of a rebellious generation, and this is a conscious decision on Ubisoft's part to make the title different from other, more serious and darker Tom Clancy's games. This is yet another way for Tom Clancy's XDefiant to be something different than the rest of the games set in the Tom Clancy universe, with another reason being that the classes, or "Defiants," will also be expanded with new additions. These extra classes are something that Ubisoft plans to make based on other Tom Clancy's games, but there is the option of adding more factions that go beyond those titles and maybe delve into other universes created by Ubisoft.
Even Ubisoft's approach is different from the get-go, as the studio openly stated that this is a game made to last for years. All sorts of possible improvements and updates will come to this game, rather than Ubisoft abandoning it and crafting another from scratch, all while listening closely to the community's feedback. Ubisoft wants to be very transparent with the way the game is going to be handled in the future, and there supposedly won't be things the studio will be keeping the community in the dark about.
Ubisoft admitted in advance that it will make mistakes, and that's why the community's support is so important. Overall, with Ubisoft's stance and the way Tom Clancy's XDefiant will slowly be coming to life, it seems like something unique and new, despite the fact it uses familiar faces and locations.
Tom Clancy's XDefiant is in development for Luna, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.