XDefiant Producer Says Studios Should be More Like Larian, Less Like Activision

by

Mark Rubin, a former executive producer for Call of Duty, has criticized the franchise on social media platform X, stating that it prioritizes fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) strategies to keep players engaged instead of improving overall game quality. In his post, he suggested that studios should aim to emulate Larian Studios, developers of Baldur’s Gate 3, rather than Activision.

As a dedicated gamer, I recently chimed in on a post by an ex-player from XDefiant, sharing their observation of not playing Call of Duty for nearly a year now. In my response, I expressed my thoughts about how the current version of Call of Duty seems to prioritize “FOMO (fear of missing out) marketing and EOMM (engagement-optimized matchmaking)” matches, which somewhat takes away from its original player-centric design. I fondly reminisced about the good old days when the franchise was more focused on creating a gaming experience tailored to players instead of engagement-based strategies.

In a post, Rubin stated, “Many games, such as Call of Duty, primarily concentrate on maximizing earnings from their player base. They employ fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) marketing strategies and every-ounce-matter matches (EOMM). I believe the emphasis should shift towards enhancing the overall quality of the game, which traditionally attracted players, rather than relying on engagement tactics. This would involve offering improved maps, modes, and overall better gaming experiences.

To put it another way, your game should be popular due to its quality, not because of a massive $250M marketing budget. Imagine if the game was like Larian Studios’ creations, where the appeal comes from the game itself, rather than being similar to Activision, where the games are often played because of extensive advertising. It’s about creating something people genuinely want to play, not just promoting it heavily.

In response to a post discussing the use of FOMO-centric marketing by XDefiant, Rubin pointed out that, although this strategy applied to the free-to-play shooter, the game’s marketing budget was relatively small.

In Rubin’s own words, “Our game is free-to-play, but we did incorporate ‘fear of missing out’ (FOMO) elements. However, a forthcoming feature would allow players to earn an in-game currency just by playing, which could be used to purchase previous content. As for our marketing efforts, unfortunately, we had very little budget allocated.

Ubisoft had previously announced that they will turn off the servers for the game called XDefiant, and this was set to happen in December. However, they have decided to keep the servers active until June 3rd. Right now, XDefiant is running its last season, which started back in December and is known as Season 3.

In its last hurrah, the game XDefiant introduced three additional playable groups: the Assassins from Assassin’s Creed, the Wolves from Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, and Blood Dragon from Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Initially planned for four new maps in the season, it ultimately received a grand total of 13 maps, nine of which were intended for release during later seasons.

The game is set to shut down within approximately a month, but until then, you can still play it on your PC, PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X/S. For additional information, feel free to read our review of the core game.

Read More

2025-05-02 06:41