People dipping into Ubisoft’s free-to-play arena shooter XDefiant are unable to access matchmaking due to connectivity issues, Ubisoft confirmed Tuesday. “We’re aware that some players are unable to join a game — please bear with us while we look into servers and matchmaking,” a representative posted from the official X account.
Players are reporting that they’re endlessly stuck searching for other players before receiving an “Unable to Find Match” message. XDefiant officially launched around 1 p.m. EDT, and players almost immediately started facing issues as people flooded to the game. “Matchmaking servers go boom!” XDefiant executive producer Mark Rubin posted on X shortly after launch. “We are working on it.”
Ubisoft’s later updates suggest XDefiant’s server woes are improving, but it also noted the team is still investigating. The company will continue to update players as progress continues.
XDefiant is free-to-play, 6v6 shooter that lets people play as one of five factions based off Ubisoft properties: Libertad revolutionaries from Far Cry 6; ex-Ghost Recon specialists known as Phantoms; agents from Splinter Cell’s Echelon spy agency; DedSec street hackers from Watch Dogs; and the Cleaners, former sanitation workers from The Division series. Players can swap factions and weapon loadouts throughout the game, similar to switching characters in Overwatch.
Ubisoft intended to release XDefiant in October 2023, but ended up delaying the game indefinitely. Ubisoft then expected XDefiant to be out by March, which got pushed once again. The company is looking toward XDefiant to bolster its place in the live-service space, according to a February financial report.
Overloaded servers might not sound like the worst problem to have — it typically means a lot of people are trying to play. But a free-to-play game with a bad launch runs the risk of its players moving onto something else, if they can’t get in; there’s no real shortage of other shooters for prospective XDefiant play instead.
