It has been a while since we’ve been able to get hands-on with XDefiant, but there’s an opportunity coming this week. On September 28th, XDefiant will be made available for a limited duration on PC only for players to test new features and configurations that have been added to the game. It’s a rather restricted test window, but it’s better than nothing – prospective fans of this all-new shooter have been starved since the beta phases wrapped up in the summer, so this is exciting.

Ubisoft has stressed that this PTS has no NDA – so you can stream and record gameplay – but it will only last a day, and even then it’ll be split up into two three-hour windows. During the XDefiant PTS, all preseason content will be unlocked – so that means you’ll be able to use all weapons and attachments across all currently available maps and modes, but again – only if you’re on PC.

Are You Excited For XDefiant?

 

In truth, we all expected XDefiant to be released by now. It was always supposed to launch before the end of the summer, but owing to some difficulties with Xbox and PlayStation’s QA processes, Ubisoft had to push the launch back. At the moment, it looks like it’ll be released in October, but that could be a dire move for Ubisoft, given that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III will have its beta phases in October. Then, in November, the full game will be released, likely stripping millions of players away from XDefiant.

Regardless, XDefiant is shaping up to be something special, and if the hyper-popular beta phases were anything to go by, there’s an audience there ready and waiting to pick up the game. It’s a unique enough offering to stand apart from the competition, and from what everyone has seen, everything from the weapon balancing to the movement mechanics seems to be absolutely on point.

It’s what we’d expect from a game whose development has been mostly meandered by the community, though.

The Public Test Servers Are Here to Stay

It’s not a one-and-done thing, that much should be stressed. Once XDefiant has been released, the PTS mechanic will stay in place, and as the game matures, Ubisoft will use it to roll out tests of the changes that will be coming in the future. It’s a similar model operated by quite a few developers, as it gives them the opportunity to test new features with the end user before pushing them to market.

For instance, Bethesda Game Studios’ Fallout 76 utilises a PTS feature that’s available exclusively for users on Steam, and often, upcoming features are previewed in the PTS months before they’re released to the general public.

So, if you want the inside scoop on what’s happening – or coming soon – in XDefiant, you’d best get yourself a top-notch gaming PC.

Related: Check Out The Leaked XDefiant Factions