XDefiant Producer Says Haters Can "Move On"

Summary

• XDefiant's Executive Producer Mark Rubin addressed accusations of rushing the game out to beat Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto in an extremely candid response.
• Rubin defended XDefiant's development, while pointing out the humble beginnings of other shooters.
• If fans cannot accept that, then they should "move on," Rubin says.

If you can't accept me at my worst, then you don't deserve me at my best. That's essentially what XDefiant's Executive Producer Mark Rubin told players who are seemingly unhappy and frustrated with the game's myriad bugs. In an extremely candid response shared on Twitter, Rubin spoke of the difficulties of the engine the Ubisoft live-service shooter is running on, as well as the challenges of being a brand-new shooter in a space that's been heavily dominated by the likes of Call of Duty, Apex Legends and Fortnite, among others.

In response to an accusation by a user that XDefiant had been rushed out to beat the incoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6, Rubin had this to say:

Rushed out? No. What we have is an engine that has only ever been an MMO. And so all of the infrastructure for an FPS has had to be built up from the ground floor. Even CoD started on ID tech which was a shooter engine. Apex started on a shooter engine. But for us we are working on developing all new tech in an engine that was designed for something else. That being said the engine is really great but it does require a lot of work and with that work comes a lot of bugs that other engines have already worked out. We're not a shooter that's been out for 20 years. If you like what we are trying to do stick around and you'll see things improve and new features get added. But if the game isn't for you that's ok you can move on.

Rubin, who had previously served as an Executive Producer on Call of Duty, knows full well the work that it takes to get a shooter not only up and running, but also the work needed to ensure its long-term success and viability. Since XDefiant's launch, Rubin has established himself as a vocal producer, often responding to fan requests and comments, all the while offering insight into Ubisoft's newest venture.

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While his response does give an air of frustration, he's not entirely wrong. That's because the Call of Duty gamers know and love today also had humble beginnings, and Apex Legends was built on the framework of what Titanfall had accomplished. Heck, even Fortnite was designed to be a co-op shooter before walking into the success of a battle royale, while Rainbow Six Seige was almost universally panned at launch.

In other words, things take time, and franchises don't always have the most glorious starts. The issue is that the space as it is currently constructed is packed. And so, new ventures don't necessarily have the grace that they once did to overcome initial warts and bugs. Players have come to expect perfection on Day 1 lest they return to whatever franchise they were previously occupying.

That said, because as communicative as Rubin has been, as well as how receptive Ubisoft has been to changes as a whole, they deserve a fair bit of grace. While telling fans to "move on" probably isn't the greatest look, it does speak to the level of pressure that developers are consistently under, both from fans and executives. XDefiant just launched its first season this week, along with ranked and new game modes. It's clear the effort is there, so perhaps a little patience can go a long way. And maybe in the end, XDefiant will reach the heights of other games.

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