Brianna Reeves
Ubisoft
Though Ubisoft promised to investigate the matter months ago, XDefiant’s glitched recoil is still causing major problems for players.
The shooter’s recoil issues date back to the April 2024 beta, wherein users noted that visual glitches were severely impacting their enjoyment of the game.
XDefiant launched in May 2024 with the same bug plaguing the moment-to-moment action. Twitch streamer Nate Gibson shared footage of the recoil glitch in a Twitter/X post, garnering a response from Systems Designer Patrick “Aches” Price.
Without offering specifics, Price said the team had begun “investigating” the glitch. “To be clear – this is not intended,” the developer added.
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As of July, though, developers still haven’t issued a fix, much to the dismay of XDefiant players. Reddit user EP_1K posted a Practice Zone clip showing the lingering troubles.
While shooting at an unmoving target, the player’s reticle bounces around with abandon, their shots hitting everything but the intended target.
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I knew something was off about aiming
byu/EP_1K inXDefiant
Multiple people in the thread said they also continue to wrestle with XDefiant’s frustrating recoil.
Reads one such reply, “I get this too… and sometimes the white dot doesn’t even sit in the center of the screen… I have to intentionally aim further left of what I expect to hit…”
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Another person added, “If I remember correctly, this was also reported on and complained about a lot in the Beta. It was one of the things they were supposed to fix but obviously didn’t.”
Some mouse and keyboard players have reached their wit’s end, as well. Twitter/X user Mikaveli cited the recoil bug as one reason why XDefiant feels “unsatisfying” to play.
They wrote in part, “I really want to like Xdefiant but it feels so unsatisfying as an MnK player. Gameplay loop can be fun but needs work to improve visual recoil…”
Developers have not shared an update about when players can expect the bug to be fixed.
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Related:
XDefiant dev reveals when bunny hopping changes will finally come
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Other XDefiant aspects of the experience await fine-tuning, too. Most notably, for PS5 players, Ubisoft plans on deploying a “full fix” for the platform’s 60hz and 120hz issues during the week of July 7.
