We take a closer look at XDefiant's first season

XDefiant has hit 11 million players. These days, even after such a milestone, it's hard to judge how successful and healthy a given live service game really is, but it's easy to convince yourself that Ubisoft must be relatively satisfied for now.

But while the launch is of course an Everest in itself, the real challenge now awaits, which is to maintain continuous engagement and interest for... well, an eternity. XDefiant, like so many others, has a seasonal model where every three months (approximately) a new season will be kicked off, adding new content from the start, but also introducing additional new stuff as the season progresses.

"Season 1", this first one is funnily enough called, and it both exemplifies what XDefiant really nails to this day, but oddly enough it also only further reminds us of where Ubisoft really needs to go. Okay, let's take stock.

• A faction from Rainbow Six: Siege is added called GSK


• A new Battle Pass that gives access to the three new weapons


• Capture the Flag as a central new mode with its own playlist


• A new map called Clubhouse (also from Siege) - new maps will arrive every month

There are also small quality-of-life changes that generally make the game a little more rewarding. Your boosters now only tick down in an actual match and not while you're just hanging out in the menu, you get to double your Match XP from 1000 to 2000, and there are now far more ranks per weapon, which ensures you get new attachments faster. Usually live service titles slow down player progression after launch, but here Ubisoft does the opposite, and I applaud that.

Capture the Flag also fits XDefiant's eclectic mix of relatively low TTK and fast movement patterns quite well. It's fast-paced action that allows for frequent solo play while rewarding actual team play. Furthermore, the existing maps have been adapted quite well and are a bit more linear here, which makes it easier to play more carefully.

The new faction also works well, although it's still absurd that they don't arrive unlocked for all players from the start. Sure, you can unlock them without too much trouble in-game, but this Suicide Squad-esque approach to fairly core new content should be changed going forward.

XDefiant's primary problem is not core gameplay, nor is it content quantity, so adding more variety in terms of maps, modes and factions is undoubtedly fine, but doesn't solve the real challenge either. No, the problem is progression, and even though there are now more ranks and more XP, the game is still not rewarding enough, both with and without the Battle Pass. Cosmetic unlocks are still too slow, and the progression systems for attachments are still too uneven. This is where Ubisoft should step in, and this is where the game lags behind - Season 1 does nothing to fix this.

However, there are still plenty of reasons to gush over such a well-tuned arena shooter here, and arguments that the game's long-term health directly requires a completely different gameplay model, such as battle royale, seem relatively irrelevant to the over 11 million players who have checked it out so far. Whether this seasonal model and the uneven progression systems will ultimately have an effect on the game's growth potential will be interesting to follow.