It's probably no surprise that Ubisoft's free-to-play game "XDefiant" won't launch before March 31; Ubisoft acknowledged the game's latest failure in a weekend Twitter update, but said a brief server stress test will take place, after which a real release date will be finally announced.

XDefiant was originally slated for a summer 2023 release, but after a beta test in April of that year was deemed a success, it was pushed back to October 2023 and then to an undetermined future date. in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2023-24, which ended March 31.

A week before that date, rumors surfaced that the game would be delayed again, and Ubisoft officially announced it a few days later.

"The game has always been community first and player feedback is our top priority," the development team said in an update. We had hoped to go live by the end of March, but there are still improvements that need to be tested before that can happen."

Ubisoft said it is "finishing preparations" for a server stress test that will run for 12 hours on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. After this short test, we expect to be able to determine a release date and begin sharing more about the exciting content XDefiant will offer in the future."

It's been a tough road for XDefiant, which was announced in July 2021 and met with such strong derision that it had to be blanked out again for a branding overhaul; when it returned in earnest in April 2023, it looked capable: "Basically fun"

and shooter magnate Morgan Park affirmed that "outside of the Activision bubble, it's a down-to-earth, 2010s CoD."

The real problem facing XDefiant, however, is that it is "a perfectly good shooter in an era where 'good' is the bare minimum." It is not hard to imagine why Ubisoft continues to produce beyond its previous deadlines: if Ubisoft does well, XDefiant could be successful in a field dominated by $70 Call of Duty games, but like the next Hyper Scape, could be abandoned, forgotten, and gone in a flash.