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XDefiant is finally launching after years of development, a successful beta in 2023, and several additional playtests. FPS fans everywhere are eager to download the supposed “Call of Duty killer,” but users first have to know where to play the game. More specifically, PC fans are curious if they’ll be able to download XDefiant on Steam or not.
Recently, XDefiant’s publisher, Ubisoft, has only released PC games through its own client, called Ubisoft Connect. With a game as highly anticipated as XDefiant, though, will that trend continue? You can find out by reading the guide below.
Can You Play XDefiant On Steam?
Unfortunately, XDefiant is not going to be available on Steam when it launches on May 21. As expected, Ubisoft is making the FPS a Ubisoft Connect exclusive title for PC. All of the game’s social features run through Ubisoft Connect, even on consoles, so a Steam release never made sense for how XDefiant is structured.
While it seems unlikely that XDefiant ever comes to Steam, the developers haven’t officially ruled out that possibility. Perhaps in the distant future, Ubisoft might see a benefit to releasing the game on Steam. But for now, you’ll have to deal with Ubisoft Connect if you plan to play XDefiant on PC.
Playing XDefiant On PC
If you want to download XDefiant on PC, you need to first download the Ubisoft Connect application. Once that’s downloaded and installed on your computer, you can either sign into an existing account or create a new one. This involves linking an active email address and creating a username you’ll be known as in-game.
After logging into your account, search for XDefiant in the marketplace section of the application. You can download the game from there, which requires roughly 30 GB of storage, and start playing once it’s been installed.
XDefiant is a completely free-to-play title, so there’s no cost of admission to play. However, there are microtransactions in-game that do require real money. All of those items are cosmetic-only, though, so there are no pay-to-win tactics involved.