Ubisoft has announced it has delayed its first-person shooter XDefiant after failing to pass console certification tests.
The 6v6 free-to-play game was originally scheduled for a summer release, however, in a recent blog post, Ubisoft confirmed that it’s now targeting an October release instead after receiving a “Not Pass” ‘grade’ when being certified for consoles.
XDefiant executive producer Mark Rubin explained that the decision to delay derives from Xbox and PlayStation certification issues, saying that it began the process at the end of July and got the results back in mid-August, forcing the publisher to push back the game.
“We realised then that we had more work related to compliance than we had anticipated,” Rubin said. “If it HAD passed, then we would have been able to ship at the end of Aug. But it didn’t and so we have spent the last 3-4 weeks fixing those issues and getting ready to do another submission.”
Rubin continued, saying that Ubisoft is now searching for compliances and functionality bugs and is looking to resubmit to first-party platforms within the next two weeks. If it passes the certification test “cleanly” XDefiant could launch mid-to-end of September, however, in the likelihood it receives a “conditional Pass” then it could be as late as October.
“There is however a likely scenario where we get a conditional Pass meaning we have to do a Day 1 patch with some final fixes to ensure compliance,” he said. “If we do need to do a Day 1 patch, then that pushes our date out to early/mid-October.
“I know it’s been quite a journey to get to this point and I want to thank every single person that has joined us along the way. We really can’t wait to go live and share our passion and love for XDefiant with everyone. Hope to see you all soon in game!”
Over on the game’s subreddit, players are reacting to the news, with some taking it in stride and making jokes about the continuous lack of a release date, while others are staying optimistic due to the ongoing communication from the publisher.
XDefiant is set to launch on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
In the meantime, check out our top picks for the best FPS games, as well as the best PC games you can play right now.