Despite an iffy launch, XDefiant inches closer to leapfrogging The Finals in popularity

Despite a disastrous launch that prevented fans from actually playing it, XDefiant continues to inch closer to fulfilling its “CoD beater” moniker. However, before it can reach the heights of Activision’s ever-popular FPS series, it may need to leapfrog a few similar competitors first, like Embark Studios’ unique, destruction-based team shooter The Finals. Though it’s still early days, XDefiant seems well on its way to doing just that, especially as Embark Studios’ offering continues to bleed players.

According to SteamDB, The Finals’ concurrent player base is tremendously down from 48,000 during Season 2’s launch to only around 15,000 today. Of course, this isn’t exactly surprising – CoD suffers from similar volatility as casual players move on to try new things. But unlike Activision’s series, The Finals isn’t as established yet and also isn’t available on old-gen consoles, making its drop in player rate even more alarming.

Unfortunately, since XDefiant is only available on Ubisoft’s own platform, data regarding its player base remains scarce. However, based on Streams Charts, over 100,000 people are currently viewing XDefiant-related content on live streaming platforms. This likely means that more are currently playing it, especially after it surpassed a whopping one million players during its closed beta period.

Now, even though both games are entirely different in terms of gameplay – XDefiant is more akin to CoD than The Finals, after all – comparisons are inevitable with each new shoot ’em up game that comes out. Only time will tell if XDefiant can keep up its boom in popularity, though player reaction so far indicates a step in the right direction.

Before you hop in to play a match yourself, take a look at how to fix XDefiant stuttering issues so you can play without any problems. You can also check out the XDefiant battle pass price and rewards, so you know what to expect if you ever decide to buy it.