Ubisoft’s recent announcement of XDefiant‘s Insider Sessions on PC also saw the publisher confirm the arena shooter no longer bears the Tom Clancy brand name. Originally unveiled as Tom Clancy’s XDefiant, Ubisoft’s newest free-to-play shooter promises Call of Duty-esque combat in a world where players assume the roles of operatives from different Clancy-based factions. At any given moment, then, a bunch of Echelon members from Splinter Cell could be going head-to-head against a few Cleaners from The Division.

Fans of the interactive Tom Clancy universe weren’t too pleased to see Sam Fisher’s iconic trifocal goggles sitting atop the head of a character running around a twitch shooter. Thus, backlash ensued, with many calling the value of the Clancy branding into question, especially in the wake of Rainbow Six’s turn to aliens with the recently released Extraction. The reveal for battle royale title Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Frontline didn’t go over well, either. In fact, the response proved so negative that Ubisoft delayed Ghost Recon: Frontline’s closed test indefinitely. At the very least, the latest on XDefiant suggests the French publisher has taken some of the backlash to heart.

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Earlier this week, Ubisoft revealed details about XDefiant’s Insider Sessions for “select registrants on PC.” Invitations to the testing phase began rolling out yesterday, March 15; those who participate will find themselves matched alongside and against members of the development team. As GamingBolt noted, however, the most interesting aspect of the recent news is that XDefiant’s logo and title now lack the Tom Clancy branding. It still seems as though groups from the likes of Splinter Cell and The Division will feature in the experience, though, since the Ubisoft write-up notes players will be “introduced to Factions from games outside of the Tom Clancy universe.” The blog post includes the following Clancy-less logo for XDefiant:

Amid concerns that Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy branding no longer means what it used to, this change to XDefiant’s title and outward-facing marketing seems a smart move. After all, nothing about the free-to-play shooter, barring the trifocal goggle-wearing operatives, looked anything like the Splinter Cells, Ghost Recons, or Rainbow Sixes of old. Hopefully, this branding adjustment also means Ubisoft leadership is taking a closer look at why Ghost Recon: Frontline didn’t excite longtime fans of the series.

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All the talk about XDefiant and Frontline has left another upcoming multiplayer project on the sidelines. The title in question is Tom Clancy‘s The Division Heartland, a Red Storm-developed free-to-play experience that Ubisoft unveiled nearly a year ago. Barring a leak of Heartland gameplay footage that made the rounds last May, this particular online game hasn’t seen the light of day in quite some time.

Source: Ubisoft (via GamingBolt)

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Brianna Reeves
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A Senior Writer on Screen Rant’s Game News team, Brianna Reeves graduated from Sam Houston Statue University in 2018 with a Master of Arts in English Literature. Brianna’s enthusiasm for games dates back to Mortal Kombat Trilogy on PlayStation 1, along with classics like MediEvil, Syphon Filter, and THPS2. However, Red Dead Redemption reinvigorated her love for the medium; hopefully, that passion reflects in the work she has contributed to Comic Book Resources, PlayStation LifeStyle, GVMERS, and Screen Rant.

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