Ubisoft recently hosted an XDebrief to share exciting updates about its competitive shooter, XDefiant. The developers announced the upcoming addition of a new faction inspired by Far Cry New Dawn, along with private match capabilities and other enhancements.
Starting with a new season, XDefiant plans to introduce a fresh faction during its inaugural year. This time, players can anticipate the arrival of the Highwaymen, who are drawn from the adversaries of Far Cry: New Dawn — a post-apocalyptic spin-off of the popular series launched in 2019. Additionally, the new map for Season 2, named Waterfront, is themed around Far Cry: New Dawn. This marks the second Far Cry faction to join the game, following the inclusion of Libertad from Far Cry 6 at launch. True to the game’s design, the Highwaymen come equipped with three distinct abilities that players can utilize during matches.
The Highwaymen pack a punch with an M79 grenade launcher that unleashes explosive grenades upon their foes, paired with an automated Scrap Turret that can be deployed in combat. Their Ultra ability, the Saw Launcher, fires sawblade projectiles that ricochet off surfaces. A unique passive ability further enhances their gameplay by increasing fire and reload rates with each kill, positioning the Highwaymen as the most aggressive faction introduced in XDefiant thus far.
In addition to the new faction, Season 2 is set to roll out a revamped battle pass and introduce three new weapons: the powerful PP-19 submachine gun, the lightweight L86 LSW light machine gun, and the semi-automatic SPAS-12 shotgun. The popular Bomb mode — a six-round format reminiscent of attack-and-defend shooters like Counter-Strike 2, Valorant, and Spectre Divide — will also be available in casual playlists, with Ubisoft gathering player feedback to potentially integrate it into Ranked mode.
Furthermore, the upcoming season will include private matches, although initially in a beta version. This feature will enable players to create custom games tailored for them and their friends, allowing adjustments to the map, mode, rank status, lobby capacity, and team size. New maps named Signal and Air & Space will be introduced during Season 2 as well, raising the total map count to 20.
XDefiant is a free-to-play title available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Season 2 is set to commence on September 24; however, PC players will have an opportunity to preview the new content for a three-hour window on September 20.