Ubisoft has finally revealed the monetization plans for XDefiant, their upcoming free-to-play first-person shooter. After what feels like an eternity of delays, this game is set to drop on Tuesday, May 21, and Ubisoft wants to make one thing crystal clear: there are no pay-to-win mechanics.
If you’re like me, the phrase “free-to-play” probably makes you a little nervous. We’ve all been burned before by games that sneakily slip in pay-to-win elements, ruining the competitive spirit. But Ubisoft is making some bold promises here. According to their latest blog post, while you can spend real money on non-cosmetic content, you can earn everything through gameplay. That’s right, they’re putting their money where their mouth is, or, rather, letting us keep it in our wallets.
For example, the DedSec faction, which you might recognize from Watch Dogs, can be unlocked in Preseason by purchasing it or grinding through an in-game challenge requiring 700k XP. That’s no small feat, but you’re not forced to pay if you don’t want to.
The goal here is to ensure players feel rewarded for their time, whether winning or losing. Ubisoft plans to keep us hooked with free Battle Pass rewards, daily and weekly challenges, Ubisoft Connect challenges, weapon mastery rewards, and community participation goodies. They’re throwing a constant parade of loot and rewards at us for just playing the game.
When XDefiant goes live, we’re looking at 14 maps, five modes, and 24 weapons with 44 attachments. Plus, we’ll have access to five factions from different Ubisoft series: Libertad from Far Cry, Phantoms from Ghost Recon, Echelon from Splinter Cell, Cleaners from The Division, and Dedsec from Watch Dogs. But remember, Dedsec is behind that 700k XP challenge or a paywall, your choice.
The Preseason is just the beginning. It’ll run for six weeks before the first official season kicks off. Each new season, dropping every three months will bring a new faction, three fresh weapons, and three maps. Plus, a hefty 90-tier battle pass to keep us grinding.
Details shared by Ubisoft
No Pay to Win
We want to take this time to have an open conversation about the different types of purchasable content we will provide. But first, let’s go over a major point:
- There are no pay-to-win mechanics – Any gameplay impacting content that is purchasable is also unlockable through challenges to ensure fair play amongst our community.
- For example, the DedSec faction in Preseason will be purchasable or unlockable through an in-game challenge by acquiring 700k XP.
Rewarding Your Time
Our goal is to be providing amazing customization options that reward all of the matches, victories, and even defeats that you put into the game. As you play that one more match, all of your time and energy will work towards unlocking content either through the Battle Pass or challenges.
Just a few examples of how your time will be rewarded:
- Free Battle Pass Rewards
- In-Game Challenges, both Daily and Weekly
- Ubisoft Connect Challenges
- Weapon Mastery (with regular updates)
- Community Participation Rewards like Twitch Drops, giveaways, and in-game events.
Focus on Customization
We know being able to display your identity as a player is important, and so customization will be key to the XDefiant experience. We will be offering:
- Character Skins
- Weapon Skins
- MVP Player Animations
- Player Cards
- Emoji Packs
- Even more coming in the future!
Evaluating Over Time
Like we said, we know this is an important topic. A topic that demands reflection and evaluation. As XDefiant progresses, we will be listening to your feedback, as well as player surveys and in-game player data, and constantly evaluating to make sure we are providing fair and engaging customization options.
Offerings
At launch, here is the type of content you can expect:
- Premium Battle Pass
- Character cosmetics
- Weapon cosmetics
- Faction unlocks
- Player Card Backgrounds
- Player animations
- Emoji packs
