Discussion is abuzz with criticism of Ubisoft’s latest free-to-play online shooter XDefiant. In addition to hit registration issues, overpowered snipers, and target bot pirates, a common issue among the player base is the game’s movement and how many players abuse the jumping mechanic. Fortunately, change is coming.
Bunny jumping around corners is too easy to abuse in XDefiant
I definitely feel that Ubisoft has gone to great lengths to make the move to flow smoother in XDefiant compared to Call of Duty – all while maintaining the fast pace and sharp response time the series is so well known for. The resulting mix makes XDefiant’s movement feel like a much faster Apex Legends which, to me, is a very good thing.
So I welcome this direction, but also unfortunately have to join the chorus of players who shout how easy it is spam multiple jumps and other moves in a row, resulting in the phenomenon known as to jump shooting or bunny hopping. There are already a few other frustrating quirks to account for in XDefiant, the most punishing being the dominance of the TAC-50 sniper rifle in nearly every match. So being blinded by some jumping figure as you turn every corner in this game certainly doesn’t help maintain morale.
The abuse of that loophole, especially by higher quality players, allows them run circles around more casual players before finishing them off instantly. If it’s a frustrating experience for me to face players like that, then I can definitely see players just starting out in XDefiant being turned off by the game. Because, after all, it is a a cheap crutch for players to trust before Ubisoft even had a chance to properly address the issue.
Ubisoft is working on nerfing annoying player movement
The good news is that XDefiant developer Ubisoft is already up and running when it comes to dominating annoying jump spamming and crouching in the wildly popular online arena shooter. According to ex-esports Call of Duty player and current XDefiant developer Patrick ‘ACHES’ Price, Ubisoft is even trying to punish players who use the jump mechanic too much. On X (formerly known as Twitter), he reminded players that the XDefiant beta last year in 2023 included aim to balance to dissuade people from jump shooting and spamming crouching, before being removed from the final game to make room for improvements.
With the news that target will swing reintroduced to XDefiant in the near future, I feel more confident that Ubisoft is well aware of the problem. I trust it will do its best to bring a balanced solution handle jump shooting while still maintaining the game’s fluid and, honestly, really fun movement mechanics. Let’s hope this issue is resolved sooner rather than later so I don’t become a bunny myself just to keep the competition going.
Wondering where to find your K/D ratio and all those other nice stats in XDefiant? Then be sure to check out How to check K/D ratio and career stats in XDefiant in Pro Game Guides.
