XDefiant Devs explains clever nerfs to stop ‘spam movement’

It's no secret that XDefiant is looking to overtake Call of Duty in the arcade shooter genre, and it's already started to gain traction by introducing a wealth of features that CoD has been missing for years gone by.

With a huge map pool, map voting, iconic weapons, red dots on mini-maps, a colourful palette, and fast-paced movement, XDefiant is already being dubbed the Call of Duty killer.

But it's the last feature - movement - that has people the most impressed. It's become apparent that the developers have carefully designed it so that players can't abuse the advanced mechanics to slide cancel, bunny hop, or snake - all of which are being criticised in Call of Duty.

Ubisoft explains why your aim sucks in XDefiant

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Having seen a clip go viral, showcasing that aim assist is damaged by spamming advanced movement mechanics in XDefiant (making slide cancelling, bunny hopping, and snaking almost useless), Ubisoft's Patrick "Aches" Price has now claimed that this is completely intentional.

The former Call of Duty World Champion turned XDefiant producer said, "The reason for this is to stop egregious spam behaviour."

"However, we do not want to limit the player from utilizing great movement, as I'm sure you've seen from all of the awesome gameplay clips. This sway penalty is not caused by sliding, only Jump & Crouch. Penalty will last a maximum of 1.5s unless you continue to jump/crouch within quick succession," he added.

Aches claims XDefiant has intentional movement penalties to avoid 'abusive' mechanics

"The goal is simple, prevent abusive play while still maintaining a fun and fluid aspect of gameplay that we all love: movement. This feature is still WIP and I'm interested to hear ALL thoughts/feedback/suggestions for ways it can be improved," Aches added.

Despite this, Ubisoft has also said it's open to listening to the community about this system, as Mark Rubin, Executive Producer, has echoed Aches' comments and added that community voices will be paramount to how XDefiant moves forward.

Considering that Call of Duty is constantly being accused of being out of touch with its community, it's clear to see why XDefiant is gathering so much hype. Call of Duty has sat comfortably for a little too long, but now, it's reign could be over.