XDefiant is giving CoD players unbridled joy after hours of gameplay

XDefiant is giving CoD players unbridled joy after hours of gameplay
Images via Activision | Ubisoft

Written by 

Jack Marsh

Published 

23rd May 2024 10:15

For the most part, Call of Duty players can enjoy Modern Warfare 3 for roughly 30 minutes (three games) before the beads of sweat begin to drip down their faces, all as the furnace that is skill-based matchmaking starts to heat up.

Wouldn't it be fun to play an arcade shooter game for more than an hour while having uninterrupted fun Meet XDefiant. Already, Ubisioft's selling point of no-SBMM is winning over CoD fans, and the consistent quality of gameplay has been applauded.

XDefiant's no-SBMM policy is winning over players

After 24 hours of being live, XDefiant has manoeuvred its way through an initial server malfunction and has steered the ship toward quite a clean and polished arcade shooter experience.

Players have already been able to put in some serious hours, too, and that comes thanks to SBMM, or the lack of it, which doesn't force players to enter god mode just to keep up.

Taking to social media, players have now applauded Ubisoft for removing SBMM. They enjoy the complete randomness of the lobbies' skill levels and even cherish those games where every player is giving their all.

"And you can actually take your foot off the gas and play a weird loadout or level up something you don't usually play. It's nice," one fan said on a Reddit thread where players discussed the varying skill levels.

Others took to X (formerly Twitter). A second fan added, "Played XDefiant for about 6 hours today. Faced some absolute monsters, faced some people that sucked. Didn't take it too seriously and had fun."

The key here is that player retention seems to be at an all-time high, despite SBMM being cranked up in games like CoD to help retain those bottom-of-the-barrel players.

"No SBMM in xDefiant is refreshing. I've fought some absolute demons in a full 6-man squad, and I've fought people who were so bad it looked like they were AFK lol. This is a nice change of pace. Doesn't feel like I'm in a tournament every game," added a third fan.

XDefiant enjoyers are calling on Call of Duty to 'take notes'

Click to enlarge

With Black Ops 6 around the corner, players are now calling on the Call of Duty developers to take stock and implement this method into public matches.

"The best part of XDefiant is being able to play casually with mixed skill levels and everyone having fun. I hope COD takes notes for the matchmaking in Black Ops 6."

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Of course, if you really want to sweat it out and push yourself against similarly skilled players, there's always Ranked play, which has launched from day one in XDefiant (something CoD players are also envious of).

XDefiant doesn't necessarily have to keep killing CoD, though. There is a world where Call of Duty could become the VALORANT and Counter-Strike powerhouses of the FPS genre, living harmoniously together.

Jack Marsh
About the author
Jack Marsh
Jack is an Esports Journalist at GGRecon. Graduating from the University of Chester, with a BA Honours degree in Journalism, Jack is an avid esports enthusiast and specialises in Rocket League, Call of Duty, VALORANT, and trending gaming news.
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