XDefiant devs confirm sniper rifles are getting a huge nerf

XDefiant devs have confirmed to players that sniper rifles will be getting a huge nerf in a future patch.

Ubisoft’s first-person shooter XDefiant has taken over the genre since its release in late May, competing with Call of Duty for players with its core gameplay being alike.

However, the devs have come under fire for various aspects of the game, especially sniper rifles which some deemed as “ridiculously overpowered” while others called them “cheesy.”

The game’s executive director Mark Rubin confirmed in a June 1 post on X that sniper rifles will see some changes. The dev admitted that snipers are a “bit buggy” in their current state when responding to concerns.

Players pleaded for Ubisoft not to ruin the capability of being able to one-shot enemies with a sniper, to which Rubin confirmed that the team is working on adding flinch rather than nerfing the weapon.

“Right now we are adding flinch so if you are taking hits you can’t just turn, point, click, and delete people. Should be in an upcoming patch,” said the dev.

In the slew of complaints across the game’s subreddit, players mainly criticized the lack of flinch when being shot and no movement punishment—which made some feel like it’s impossible to compete against opponents using snipers.

It’s unclear when we’ll see the update hit the live servers. XDefiant’s first update arrived just a few days after the game’s launch. And while it didn’t bring any significant changes, the patch fixed several pressing issues.

XDefiant is still in its preseason, with season one expected to release in early July, where we’ll see the addition of several new maps and weapons, along with a whole new faction.