XDefiant drops Tom Clancy branding as public testing signups open

Tom Clancy's XDefiant was introduced in 2021 as Ubisoft's free-to-play answer to Call of Duty multiplayer: A 6v6 competitive military FPS featuring factions from Tom Clancy franchises Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, and The Division. The title didn't exactly set the world on fire but the gameplay looked not bad; early beta tests ran in August 2021, and anyone interested was (and still is) able to sign up for future testing sessions, although none have been announced since.

That will apparently change in the near future, as Ubisoft has announced upcoming "Insider Sessions" for XDefiant that will enable members of the public to take part in testing sessions with and against developers. Testing will begin with a small number of participants on PC (exactly how many isn't stated) and will expand to more players, and more platforms, as the tests progress.

Another interesting development revealed by the Insider Sessions announcement is that the Tom Clancy branding is gone. The game title, reflected in the logo, is now simply XDefiant, and Ubisoft said that the testing sessions will introduce "factions from games outside of the Tom Clancy universe. With these changes, the game will now be known as XDefiant." Those factions will presumably be in addition to the existing Tom Clancy-based groups: The Echelon (Splinter Cell), the Wolves (Ghost Recon), the Cleaners (The Division), and the Outcasts (also The Division).

Here are the old and new XDefiant logos:

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To sign up for the XDefiant Insider Sessions, head around to playxdefiant.com and click the relevant button. Previous testing registrations will carry over, but Ubisoft recommends double-checking to ensure you're signed up. And if you do get in, note that the whole thing remains under NDA.

XDefiant isn't the only Ubisoft game to kick off an Insiders program. Ubisoft also recently announced one for the long-overdue swashbuckling simulator Skull and Bones.