XDefiant is making players realize they suck at video games

XDefiant has certainly defied all expectations, becoming one of the hottest releases of 2024. Ubisoft’s latest ‘COD beater’ has been a huge hit with players, but not all are feeling that way as the lack of SBMM has highlighted that some players are not as good as they thought they were.

U/Expert_Nobody_8257 took to Reddit to discuss XDefiant’s lack of skill-based matchmaking and how it has made them realize that gamers are simply better than they used to be back in the glory days of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Halo 3.

The Reddit user noted that XDefiant has “made me realize where gamers are actually at on the whole now in terms of level, I’ve spent years moaning about SBMM and longing for the days of old but the reality is gamers today are just much better than when I was slapping people about on Call of Duty 4.”

With the rise of esports and competitive titles such as Fortnite becoming the hottest trends in gaming, it has led to the skill ceiling to drastically rise to the point that many average players can’t keep up without SBMM in place, which is why many games such as Fortnite and Call of Duty implement it now.

Many players took to the comments to agree with u/Expert_Nobody_8257 as well as reminisce on the good ol’ days, with u/DroopyDachi remembering the “Christmas noobs,” remarking “What a beautiful time those were.”

Not everyone is finding the lack of SBMM to be a bad thing, with it helping players achieve a positive K/D ratio due to the wider range of players that they encounter. U/Prodigyyyyyy took to the replies to say “Players are without a doubt better, but I’m pretty sure I had a negative K/D when I last played COD. I without a doubt am sure that I can get to a 2.0 in one season. In all of the 20-30 games I’ve played, I’ve gone negative maybe 2-3 times. In COD it was 1/4 games. No SBMM is a godsend. Still sweaty, but way more fun.”

It will be interesting to see whether XDefiant can keep the momentum going as it saw 8 million unique players jump into the game during the first week. But, with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone beginning Season 4 today, and with Black Ops 6 on the horizon, Ubisoft has its work cut out. If you’ve yet to jump into XDefiant, we highly recommend checking out our beginners tips and tricks guide.